Down syndrome hasn’t stopped Madeline Stuart from becoming a model and now her hard work has paid off in a big way: She’s walking in New York Fashion Week.
The 18-year-old Australian made a splash earlier this year when her modeling photos on Facebook went viral. Now she’s living the dream of every model by walking down the runway during one of the biggest events on the fashion industry’s calendar this September.
Stuart’s mother Rosanne shared her daughter’s exciting news with Cosmopolitan. “When we were asked to do New York Fashion Week, it didn’t surprise me,” she said. “I don’t think anything really surprises me anymore. She’s been asked to do a lot of stuff and I was hoping to she’d get asked to do NYFW but I assumed it would happen. I hope that doesn’t sound too pretentious.” The teen will participate thanks to a group called MODA in association with the Christopher Reeve Foundation.
Stuart is an active social media user who posts on Instagram, is active on Twitter, and inspired her own hashtags like “Madeline #HairGoals,” “Madeline #RelationshipGoals,” “Madeline #FigureGoals,” according to her mother.
The teenager has already accomplished so much, as compared to anyone her age. She’s slated to be the face of a line of handbags named after her for brand EverMaya.
What the hell were you doing at 18?
H/T Cosmopolitan | Photo via madelinesmodelling/Instagram
