Lucy Beall Lott

Lucy Margaret Beall Lott (born 1998) is an American-British academic, activist, and model with epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

EB is a rare terminal illness also called "butterfly skin" due to the skin fragility it causes. With it, even slight friction causes open wounds and blisters resembling severe burns, both on the outer skin and inside the throat. There is no cure, only supportive treatment.

Beall was born in Texas and raised in a small town by a single mother. She was expected to die in infancy, then by the age of 18. When she exceeded her life expectancy she moved to Britain to study medieval art history, saying that the only thing her disease could not stop her from doing was learning. She earned a joint bachelor's degree from the University of St Andrews, two master's degrees from the University of London and University of Cambridge, and is pursuing a doctorate.

Beall's EB activism began at age 17, with writing to raise awareness for her condition. As an adult, she became an ambassador for DEBRA UK, and has participated in other EB charities. She started modeling in a body positive fashion show at university, then posting photographs on her Instagram account, which led to her appearing in pictorials in Vogue Italia and Cosmopolitan UK, and walking in London Fashion Week.

Early life and epidermolysis bullosa

Lucy Margaret Beall Lott was born in Austin, Texas, raised them as a single parent. Her maternal grandfather was Royce Beall, who headed the Bealls department store chain from 1977 to 1981. Lott is her legal last name, but she prefers Beall to honor her mother and mother's family who raised her. EB is a rare condition affecting an estimated 500,000 people worldwide. treatments are mainly supportive, dealing with the symptoms and wounds. "Terminal" and the name of her disease were among the first words she learned, at about the same time she learned her name. She grew up on a ranch, and attended Heritage School, Her classmates and teachers accepted her, as did her family, even though she needed to be covered in bandages to protect her fragile skin. She wore the bandages until she was 14 years old. her class had five students in it. Her research showed that her ancestors were married in a St Andrews chapel, and buried in the St Andrews cemetery.

Beall graduated from St Andrews at the top of her class in 2021. She gave a lecture on the subject to the Society of Antiquaries of London in November 2023.

In December 2023, Beall helped organize a masquerade at Sir John Soane's Museum for the Young Friends of Save Venice Inc. art preservation charity. In 2025 Beall was on the Young Friends of Save Venice steering committee.

After graduating University of Cambridge, Beall returned to the University of St Andrews to seek her PhD in Art History. She was elected to the Royal Historical Society in May 2024. She investigated and wrote about the statues on Henry V's chantry chapel in Westminster Abbey in September 2025.

When people ask Beall what she means to do with her degrees, sometimes her answer is to become an art history professor, In it, she wrote that she was proud of her scars, because each was a visible sign of her strength, a reminder that she survived instead of dying as she was diagnosed. That year Beall was interviewed by The Brothers Trust, the charitable organization of the family of actor Tom Holland. Also in 2020, Beall joined Olivia Vedder and the Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Partnership to create "Beauty is Not Rare", a social media campaign celebrating atypical bodies.

Besides DEBRA UK and the EB Research Partnership, Beall participates in her family foundation, the Beall Family Endowed Fund for EB, launched in 2014. In June 2023 she appeared in the British Skin Foundation and ITN series Skin: Below the Surface, anchored by British television presenter Louise Minchin; her episode also featured DEBRA president Simon Weston. In December 2023, she spoke for DEBRA UK at the Scottish Parliament.

Modeling

In 2017, during her first year at University of St Andrews, Beall modeled lingerie in a student-run body positive fashion show called "Label", In 2020, she appeared in two lingerie photoshoots and accompanying interviews in the fashion magazine Vogue Italia. in 2020 Beall co-founded the "Bare Revolution" body-positive university fashion show only to have it meet the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. In December 2020, Dylan Eggleston, a Fredericksburg friend of Beall's since the Heritage School, won the 2021 Fashion Scholarship Fund scholarship for her presentation that imagined clothing for EB sufferers.

In September 2021, Beall walked the runways for three fashion brands at London Fashion Week: Again & Again, Lautoka Vintage, and Agent Provocateur. In February 2022, she walked London Fashion Week again, for three different brands: Noe dresses, Seref, and Tracy Toulouse's Swirling Wind. In May 2022, she modeled Savage X Fenty lingerie in a photo shoot in the magazine Cosmopolitan UK.

Personal life

Despite her condition, Beall hikes, snowboards, and socialises with friends. then moved with her to the University of Cambridge where they both completed their master's degrees, and he played for the Cambridge University Pythons American football club. He returned with her to St Andrews for her PhD. They have a medical assistance dog named Saxon.