Emily Harrison. At just 5ft, 27-year-old Emily Harrison is determined to break boundaries in the modelling industry. The eldest of 12 siblings from Birmingham, Midlands UK, she is a dedicated musician and an academic support worker. Competing in pageants as another passion for almost two years, she is a petite beauty queen, a role model and an inspiration to her siblings and people worldwide for pushing height boundaries.

Entering her first beauty pageant back in 2022, her height stood out among contestants and she was the smallest finalist in the 95-year pageant history. Speaking to Emily, she said ‘I was the smallest in my class at school, it was always a thing, but I didn’t realise how height was actually a restriction in several areas of work & hobbies – like some beauty pageants. Even working as an air hostess carries a size requirement’. An aspiring singer and songwriter, she came top 3 in the talent round of her first time competing in UK pageant Miss England, which leads on to Miss World.

Competing in Florida for her first international pageant in July 2023, she spoke on TV and made it to newspapers as the ‘5ft beauty queen’ representing ladies of a smaller height and aiming to empower women worldwide. Also a finalist for Supranational UK, Emily is competing with her own younger sister in February, both sponsored by Richard Murrill Pageant Sponsorship. She is planning to compete in Malaysia in May 2024 in a second international pageant Miss Petite Global.

Researching into the industry, she discovered it isn’t at all common for petite models to be on the runway, with Devon Aoki being the shortest at 5”5”. Aiming to change this in the fashion world, her goal is to break stereotypes and be a voice for petite ladies, inspiring others to follow and achieve their dreams and embrace our uniqueness. Emily was recently featured in international magazine La Stelle and Swimsuit International’s social media page and won a pageant for the first time, Miss December Darling.

Starting a community platform ‘Purposefully Petite’-  being petite with a purpose- she raises awareness and fundraises for important causes through campaigns helping those less fortunate. She also hopes to empower women of all shapes and sizes through her modelling journey while she breaks boundaries.

Inspiring young people through workshops in schools to challenge what they believe their limits are, she is showing them another perspective of achieving their goals and having no boundaries to reach their ambitions. ‘The next generation is the future and there is no ‘one’ path to achievement. We have no limits and we should embrace our differences and use them to our advantage, pushing for the changes we want to see.’ Emily says. 

As well as her job, modelling and music, the 5ft petite queen is due to graduate with her Master of Arts degree in Commercial Songwriting and Music Production. ‘Sometimes what we think our limit can be becomes our niche- like me being petite! I can show this as a role model to my siblings and young people everywhere – we can have more than one dream and limitations don’t exist.’

In 2024, Emily has already competed in the Supranational UK pageant and Hearts & Candy charity pageant which she won the Miss Heart Novice Supreme Newcomer Award as well as Best in Evening Wear and Jackpot Winner for Wow Factor! She was a panellist for Birmingham Fashion Council in early March and will be walking Birmingham Fashion Week in October. Emily is also shark snorkelling for charity end of March 2024. Preparing to compete in May for Miss Petite Global in Malaysia, she is taking professional pageant coaching.

Emily is taking her petite modelling goal one step further as part of the Cinderella of New York contest while helping young girls less fortunate with dresses & shoes to really make dreams come true for little princesses, spreading the message of fashion joy everywhere as a proud Kilame ambassador. She aims to one day walk New York Fashion Week. ‘To say a petite queen has done that would be another goal accomplished, another limit pushed and another stereotype broken!’

IG @emilyharrison2023

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