At a fashion show for people with spinal muscular atrophy, models take back their own stories
NEW YORK — The scene: a fashion show on Fifth Avenue. The catwalk was not elevated, as it usually would be. People were packed tightly on benches alongside it in the dark. The first person to walk it was a singer/songwriter, James Ian, dressed in a flashy suit with a howling wolf embroidered in beadwork on the back.
Ian walked with a slight limp. Many of the other models, who included students, writers, an artist, and big-time social media influencers, used motorized wheelchairs. The event, covered in Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily, was part of an initiative to raise awareness about the lives and needs of people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a condition in which damaged or destroyed motor neurons lead to various levels of disability. All the clothes were specially designed. Ian’s suit, according to an event brochure, featured a magnetic closure to create the look of buttons without imposing the challenge of fastening them.
