'' All i wanted was to sew a cloth that fitted me''-Isabella Springmuhl



Isabella is 19 years old and has already shown her work at London Fashion Week

 For one woman with Down's syndrome, rejection and discrimination spurred her on - as far as London Fashion Week. Now this designer from Guatemala is on the BBC's 2016 list of 100 inspirational women.



Before she was an internationally-recognized designer, Isabella Springmuhl says she was rejected by two fashion schools in her native Guatemala because she has Down's syndrome.
"They said I would not be able to cope," recalls the 19-year-old.

But that rejection was exactly what Isabella needed to turn her life around, says her mother, Isabel Tejada.

"I was furious that these institutions did not give Isabella a chance to learn. It was so sad, but it made her change everything. She then decided she wanted to learn sewing so I took her to a sewing academy for women."