A contributing editor at the magazine Vogue UK, the Irish writer and activist Sinéad Burke is on a mission to make fashion more inclusive.

Born with a form of dwarfism, she is a leading advocate for disabled rights and has been making waves within the fashion world by speaking out for people whose needs have been ignored by mainstream designers.

Her love of fashion began at a young age but found that high street and designer shops did not offer clothing for her build.

She told Scotland Tonight, "for so long, we have lived with an industry that we all subscribe to that doesn't reflect us."

Burke's bespoke Burberry trench coat and Christopher Kane dress are on display at the National Museum of Scotland.

The Body Beautiful: Diversity on the Catwalk exhibition runs until October 20 in Edinburgh.

The writer, who attended this year's MET Gala in New York - a symbol of fashion's elite - says despite her glamour lifestyle, she is still harassed in the streets.

Here is an edited transcript of her interview.

Rona Dougall: Sinéad, you loved fashion as a young girl growing up, but you felt like you didn't have access to it. So is that what started you campaigning for more diversity in fashion?

Sinéad Burke: My campaign and my advocacy was almost unintentional. I would just go through the local store where I wanted to buy something that I loved to wear, because for me fashion has enormous power. It is something that unites us all, we all wear clothes, it's a form of armour, it explicated my vulnerabilities and my confidence in a way that I didn't have to. And yet when I walked into a retail space I couldn't reach the clothes on the rail, I couldn't access the changing rooms or the till, in a magazine or in a campaign nobody ever looked like me. So I am tenacious as an individual, and that wasn't anything that was ever going to stop me. My access, my way in was through education and the internet, and learning as much as I could about the system of the fashion industry and how one could change it.

Rona: And I mean how diverse do you think the fashion industry is now, here we are in the middle of this wonderful new exhibition, but still the majority of the time it is young thin models isn't it?

Sinéad: Absolutely I think this exhibition, and being the first of its kind here in Scotland, is something we need to be incredibly proud of. But it is also marking the changes that have come and what we need to do to push forward. So ensuring that fashion is intersectional requires approach from top down, making sure that senior leadership are diverse, and that this is something that they respect and admire. Not just for the business capabilities and the profitability aspect of the industry, but this is important for people. In advocacy circles there is a phrase, 'if you can see it, you can be it'. And for so long we have lived with an industry that we all subscribe to that doesn't reflect us. And it is about changing that, at every different level. Not just the models but the product that is available, do you see yourself as someone who could work in fashion, perhaps in fashion broadcasting? Whatever it is. Making sure that those opportunities are available, and we need to keep on pushing. The consumer as an individual has a say and a voice in that, often we are very vocal, and very critical when things are going wrong. But I would question if we are supportive of the designers and the individuals and the establishments that are trying to push things forward, and often we are a little bit quieter in those instances.

Rona: And how receptive are the top designers? I mean there you are, you're wearing this beautiful dress by Christopher Kane, how receptive are they, and I suppose once you get them to take it on board, as you say, it's a trickle-down effect, isn't it?

Sinéad: Absolutely, my interest in the fashion industry, I was always very cognizant that if I wanted change to occur I had to deliberately position myself at the most upper echelons of the luxury fashion industry. And whilst that price point is not accessible to most of us, I understood that if you could influence the most luxury aspects of the fashion industry, the highstreet would follow. So being able to sit with creative directors and CEOs and talk to them, because this is an opportunity for creativity and innovation. We are all going to live longer so why are we not catering to this market. And changing that kind of dimension. The phrase I hear most is, 'I have not thought of this before.' So it's about us moving to a place where we are not only thinking about this but creating action too. And I think there is a real appetite there for it.

Rona: You campaign for inclusivity in design and fashion, and a lot of that stems from the practical challenges that you face in your life. Just give me some examples of what you have to take into consideration?

Sinéad: It's just thinking about a world that was designed mostly for you, rather than for me. And the lack of inclusion that I feel I don't think was born out of malice, there was just never any thinking about what it is that I need. Something as simple as sitting on this stool, that we are across from one another at, that I climbed on something else in order to be here. So it is about levelling the playing field, and thinking that this as an opportunity for everybody, I suppose the most visceral example is public bathrooms. You know, I can't reach the lock on the cubicle door nor the sink nor the handdrier. But by not thinking of me within that design aspect we are also not thinking of children. Because how many parents or adults have had to haul their child from the floor up over the sink in order to wash their hands. There is no agency in that, nor is there any dignity or respect. So why are we not designing public spaces for all who get to exist here. And what oppourtunity could that be for community and nationality, but also for an individual's confidence. I think there is huge opportunity ahead of us.

Rona: You are a teacher to trade, and you spend a lot of time going around schools in Ireland, what do you talk about? You talk about an incident when you are harassed in the streets of Dublin, don't you?

Sinéad: Yes, for me I believe education is a catalyst for so many things, both in terms of empathy, in terms of challenges that exist societally, and much like what I do with the designers and creative directors. For me education is so important because we are transforming the system sustainably. Because even if you convice those who have power at the moment, eventually those individuals will retire. But if you can get the next generation, who are already thinking differently to widen their lens, and to understand that there is difference among us all. Then that is not something to be ridiculed, or jeered, or feared. But to be celebrated because that is what makes us individuals, and what makes this world such a great place to live most of the time. But yes you mentioned harassment, it would be a regular occurrence for me. That despite my appearances at the Met Gala, or sitting next to you in Christopher Kane, that I would experience street harassment of sorts, people would joke, make fun, take photographs, I've had instances when people have jumped over me in public. Again it lacks any kind of agency, and for me I grew up in the most extraordinary family, who always taught me, that if others needed to make me feel small in order to make themselves feel big, that says so much about them, and not about me. And my question is, what are we all doing to create a society in which everybody feels safe, in order to exist. And I think that is a responsibility we each hold.