Down syndrome model from Brisbane slays ‘em at New York Fashion Week
THIS is the moment a Brisbane girl challenged the way New York Fashion Week defines beauty.
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THIS is the moment a Brisbane girl challenged the way New York Fashion Week defines beauty.
Madeline Stuart looked nothing like most of the willowy models she shared the runway with in the heart of Manhattan yesterday.
But, before a capacity crowd in the middle of a buzzing Grand Central Station, it was the model with Down syndrome who stole the show.
Stuart, 18, was handpicked to open and close the Hendrik Vermeulen segment of the FTL Moda runway event, attended by VIPs including Drew Barrymore and Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima.
Stuart has been told by her mother Rosanne every day of her life that she’s beautiful. But yesterday was about telling the rest of the world.
The message came in the form of a simple black T-shirt Stuart wore to close the show, with the words “I am NYFW” stamped on the back.
“Let’s not pretend just some people are beautiful,” Mrs Stuart said.
“Let’s not just say beauty is this one thing. Because it’s not. Beauty is in every single person. Just look.”
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Stuart — who speaks little but hugs a lot — has already been booked to walk in Tokyo, Milan and again in New York next year.
Yesterday’s FTL Moda show featured a handful of models from non-traditional backgrounds: a girl in a wheelchair, a girl with a bionic arm and a girl who had lost an arm.
Stuart beamed when she stepped on into the spotlight on the grand stage of Vanderbilt Hall, before seemingly remembering the advice she’d been given that models don’t usually smile.
She remained the consummate professional at first, before relenting to the cheers and slapping front-row guests with high-fives.
Mrs Stuart said that while the modelling started because it was something her daughter wanted desperately to do, she believed her daughter was achieving much more.
“Obama will go down in history as being the first black president of America. You saw people like Martin Luther King changing things for black people,” she said.
“You’re going to read about Madeline in the years to come in history books - about being this person who changed the face of disabilities.”
Stuart will be awarded the prestigious Melange Model of the Year Award in San Francisco on October 3, where she will also walk for Onch Movement — a label favoured by Kate Moss, Nicki Minaj and Kim Kardashian.
South African label Hendrik Vermeulen designer Jean-Daniel Meyer Verneulen said the piece Madeline wore was designed just for her and captured non-obvious beauty.
“Her top features a fish from the abyss — it’s a bit disturbing, not the kind of fish you usually see, but you get acquainted with it as you look at it and you start loving it,” he said.
“I thought perhaps that was appropriate.”
She finished the show in a couture dress.
Originally published as Down syndrome model from Brisbane slays ‘em at New York Fashion Week
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