The Fashion Show Happened

I had the honor of watching sixteen kids walk their own creations down a runway. These children worked for hours on end, designing, draping, and then sewing sixteen different outfits to wear and display for an audience. The Runway Rebels Fashion Show wasn’t just a showcase — it was a masterpiece of originality. These kids didn’t follow patterns; they made their own. They draped, stitched, and trimmed like seasoned designers, and made it to the other side of the runway with the biggest smiles.

Behind the scenes, the studio was a wreck all summer long — pins everywhere, designs strewn across the desks, machines humming, and kids working their butts off like as if preparing for New York Fashion Week. I saw focus, frustration, and most of all, pride. Then, when show day came, I saw the vision I had dreamed of— the lights, the set, the beaming faces. Watching them strut out in their own handmade looks, smiles bigger than I knew possible, I thought: this is why I do what I do.

The handmade set.

The show lasted only around twenty minutes, but it told sixteen stories — stories that I had the personal honor of watching develop. I’ve worked in fashion my whole life, I’ve had years of experience doing all of this, over and over and over, and watching these kids smile with so much pride, it was like watching myself, however many (undisclosed) years ago. I saw myself walking down that runway, in each of those outfits, and I was so immensely proud.

A dress, handmade by one of the campers.

This fashion show wasn’t just a show- it was a new future for these kids.