April Lockhart, a content creator and influencer manager at clean beauty brand Ilia, has been a longtime UO Community member and fashion inspo to us here at Urban Outfitters. Over the years, we've loved working with April due to her bubbly personality and anything-goes fashion sense. Recently, April started a video series called "Normalizing Disabled Fashun Girlies," so we sat down to chat with her about what inspired her to start these videos, her most-loved outfits and how her hometown of Nashville influences her style.

Hi April! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do for a living?

Hi UO fam! I’m a Nashville-based marketer, lifestyle content creator, and disability advocate. I do a little bit of everything - I currently work full-time as the Sr. Manager of Influencer & Partnerships at the clean makeup brand, ILIA Beauty, as well as create content @aprillockhart.

How would you describe your personal style? We know you love a little bit of everything.

Quirky, and loves a theme. It’s tough to describe my personal style because I love changing it up with trends and seasons. I can go full neutrals or metallic disco cowgirl – and usually not a lot in between. So much so that I made a TikTok about all my personas.

You semi-recently moved to Nashville. Has being there changed your sense of style at all?

I do love the Western influences happening in fashion right now, and it feels even more fun to be in Nashville wearing it. I’m all about cowboy boots in fun colors, and western shirts in a fresh way. My little nod to Music City!

What made you decide to start your “Disabled Fashun Girlies” Reels?

I spent a lot of time reflecting on what kind of content I wanted to put out, and how I wanted to use my platform. I never wanted my disability (which is a limb difference) to be the one thing I was known for, but obviously it informed who I was. I’d been creating content for years, on-and-off subtly showing my arm but still battling a lot of insecurity around it. As I thought more about it, I really didn’t have anyone in the fashion or beauty space I felt represented by. So I made the decision to get out of my comfort zone – and take up that space. “Normalizing Disabled Fashun Girlies” felt like it was brewing in my mind for a long time, and it’s been so much fun to work on.

Were you surprised by the response to the series?

100%. The response has been really special. Especially from those within the disabled community. I’ve gotten so many DMs and comments from people who finally feel represented, or love seeing someone that looks like them (or someone they know!) A few have done their own videos inspired by the series as well, which just makes my day.

Aside from just the disabled community, the sentiment has been really positive – I wanted to bring joy + fun back into people’s feeds and I’ve gotten a lot of feedback that seeing these videos have brought joy or reenergized creativity and fashion sense again. It’s refreshed my fashion sense as well, and has really helped me think outside of my little box of what to wear.

What’s been the best message you’ve received so far about it?

One of my favorite comments was “this is my first time seeing someone with an arm like mine in an ad campaign <3” which is so simple, but so powerful to me and maybe made me tear up.

If you could only wear one outfit for a week straight, what would you pick? What do you feel best in?

Probably funky wide-leg pants, a fitted top and an oversized blazer right now – that has been my go-to. Blazers just make me feel powerful.

How do you like to style out a bright colored dress to make it feel wearable?

I try to follow less rules, which I think was inspired by TikTok fashion. Sometimes I like to balance bold with more neutral colors, but sometimes I just lean into it. Color-blocking is really big in my wardrobe right now, it makes bold colors feel less scary. Don’t be afraid to mix patterns, or tap into different tones of the same color. And then it sounds obvious, but confidence totally makes an outfit.