Models with Down syndrome walk the runway
As 6 p.m. Sunday ticked closer, the excitement was almost palpable in the air at NOAH’S in Memphis. Beyoncé blared from cellphone speakers and the smell of perfume and hair products hung in the air, hallmarks of being backstage before a fashion show.
As a makeup artist carefully applied nude eyeshadow to her eyelids, Leah Thomas confirmed she had modeled before but she was still a little nervous. But mostly, she said she was excited. “I love the clothes and getting dressed up,” she said. Thomas was one of 25 models who hit the runway Sunday in Memphis’ first “Rocking My Extra Chromosome” fashion show. The show featured local models with Down syndrome — the show’s name is a reference to the fact that individuals with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21 — sporting designs from shops including children’s clothing shop Mini Mirrors Boutiques and M Dandridge Collection. The model’s makeup was done by the Institute of Make Up Arts in Bartlett.
Renadda Wiggins, who organized the show, founded The Art of Runway in 2009 to give lessons to aspiring models in Memphis. A woman with Down syndrome started taking classes with Wiggins and became the first model with Down syndrome to walk in one of Wiggins’ shows.
Wiggins then moved to Los Angeles in 2012 to build a modeling agency specifically for aspiring models with Down syndrome and autism and in 2016, she launched the first “Rocking My Extra Chromosome” fashion show in LA. Since then, she’s worked with more than 1,000 models who have Down syndrome, Wiggins said.
Now, she has brought the show to Memphis to expand on her message that individuals with Down syndrome are capable of achieving great things in any industry, including the fashion industry.
“There’s no such thing as a disability,” Wiggins said in a previous interview. “Everybody has the ability to be whatever they can be. If they had a great support system, and if they had people encouraging them and inspiring them to push their limits, then the sky’s the limit.”
On Sunday, Wiggins was tasked with making the show run smoothly, a job that included wrangling the models. Walking into the hair and makeup room, she called for everyone’s attention.
“All models, you need to stay here until your hair and makeup are done,” she said. “I can’t have you running around.”
Fifteen minutes later, Wiggins returned to rid the backstage of parents and siblings to make enough space in a room packed with makeup bags and garment racks to have a chair for every model to sit in.
“If I can get all the parents out of here. It’s too much,” she said. “We’ll have you back when everybody is ready and beautiful.”
Shortly before the models lined up for a runthrough before the show, India Douglas was practically bouncing with excitement as a hairstylist put the finishing touches on her look. Douglas said she had spent a lot of time practicing her runway walk and her pose, putting her left hand on her hip as she cocked it out to the side. “It’s a big day,” she said, smiling. Reporter Dima Amro contributed to this story.
“There’s no such thing as a disability. Everybody has the ability to be whatever they can be. If they had a great support system, and if they had people encouraging them and inspiring them to push their limits, then the sky’s the limit.” Renadda Wiggins The Art of Runway