New Diesel ad features wheelchair-bound fashion blogger

Diesel is the latest retailer to join the list of fashion giants who are increasingly using unconventional models to promote their products.

New York City native and fashion blogger Jillian Mercando can be seen in the brand's new "We Are Connected" ads for spring 2014.

In the ad, Mercando poses in her wheelchair sporting a denim dress, bright red lipstick and spiky short platinum blond hair.

The 26-year-old suffers from muscular dystrophy, which has left her wheelchair-bound.

"It's never easy for her to move from point A to point B, but she's totally fearless and has really been an inspiration to me," Diesel's artistic director Nicola Formichetti tells Women's Wear Daily. "You don't have to be a conventional model type to represent a brand."

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Formichetti chose Mercando and 23 other male and female models with equally unique looks for the brand's latest campaign.

The ads -- slated to appear in the March issues of Vogue and Interview -- are a stunning reminder that beauty and style need not be one-dimensional.

Mercando is thrilled at the opportunity to model, yet she is realistic about the possibility for negative public reaction.

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"I always have it in the back of my mind 'Don’t be surprised if someone hates on the photo,'" she tells The Daily Mail.

The edgy Diesel ads follow a recent string of other fashion brands who have actively challenged conventional beauty standards by using models with disabilities and serious illnesses.

In 2012, Target featured a six-year-old boy with Down syndrome in their children's clothing ads, and just six months later, a Spanish kid's clothing line also featured a baby with Down syndrome in its swimwear campaign.

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Last year, a former U.S. marine with only one leg made headlines for being featured in underwear ads. Most recently, a Canadian model battling cancer is showing off her bald head with pride in lingerie ads.

What are your thoughts on the growing trend in the fashion industry to use unconventional models? Sound off in the comments below.