The stage is ready and the fashions are prepared for the intense lights.
“Are you feeling nervous?” World Information requested 14-year-old Calgary mannequin James Friedman. “No,” he answered instantly. “I really feel good.”
It is a sentiment echoed by 13-year-old Kelty Allanach. “I am not nervous anymore,” says Allanach. “That is nice.”
Allanach, who lives with cerebral palsy, is one in every of three fashions with a number of disabilities who can be a part of the runway present offered by Toronto Children Style Week (TKFW) this season.
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“I bear in mind college footage years in the past the place she requested to not have her wheelchair or her walker within the image,” mentioned Allanach’s mom, Katie MacMillan. “That is now not the case.”
Simply over a yr in the past, MacMillan began a brand new form of modeling company, now advocating for greater than 130 various younger Canadians. It is an initiative that began after she helped her personal daughter navigate her debut into the style trade.
“[We] had a handful of excellent experiences, however general we have been simply left with a way that the trade does not actually know what to do with incapacity,” MacMillan mentioned.
Annika Van Vliet is among the fashions MacMillan has since joined her workforce. The 14-year-old, who lives with Down syndrome, arrived in Calgary earlier this week to attend a variety of rehearsals.
“I am going to prepare after which go on the runway and stroll. And everybody will cheer for me,” Van Vliet mentioned with a smile.
“We wish to make it possible for all these children are correctly represented so that children watching can see themselves on the runway — see themselves doing one thing like this,” mentioned TKFW choreographer Brooke Anderson.
TKFW will play three exhibits in Calgary on Saturday earlier than transferring to Edmonton subsequent weekend.
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