:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49106705/bannerv2.0.0.jpg)
Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
We don't know if we should get in formation or a single file line to congratulate Beyoncé on her new merch campaign. Queen Bey cast model Jillian Mercado, who has muscular dystrophy, to model the clothing that goes along with the singer's new single.
Mercado shared the news on her Instagram along with a message to Beyoncé. "So BEYond excited to finally announce that I'm on the official @beyonce website!!!" she writes. "A special shout out to Queen Bee herself and the amazing team behind it."
Mercado is seen on the website showing off designs with pictures of Beyoncé and printed with lyrics from the single like "Fresher Than You," "Slay," "Smack It," and "I Twirl On Them Haters."
This isn't the first high-profile campaign for Mercado. She kicked off her career with a Diesel campaign, since then she's landed a contract with IMG and gigs with Nordstrom and CR Fashion Book.
Mercado says her goal with her modeling career is to change the fashion industry and challenge perceptions. "I feel like the modeling industry has been stuck on this one notion of perfection. But we are all human, everyone has flaws and it's refreshing when you can relate to someone in an ad," Mercado told Racked in 2014. "Sometimes these advertising and campaigns feel so distant because you don't look like the models and they feel far away, it's a fantasy so you don't know why you'd even buy the clothes."