Clothes for EveryBODY: New York Fashion Week 2022
By Hannah Gallivan
A while ago I wrote a blog about how Vermont’s young residents are leading us towards justice. This time around, we are happy to feature one of these young people, sharing their story in their own words. Hannah is an extraordinary young person from Vermont who encourages us to expand our thinking about what it looks like to uplift and celebrate the full diversity of human experiences. And to remember that creating inclusive, equitable spaces is a creative act that adds joy, meaning (and in Hannah’s case, some serious style), to all of our lives. I hope you enjoy! ~ Sue
Clothes for EveryBODY: New York Fashion Week 2022
One of my favorite things to do when I was about 9 or 10 years old was to sit on my mom’s old laptop and Google “New York fashion week” for hours. I’ve loved fashion for a long time and would pore over each image, obsessing over how the fabrics looked and fell on the models’ bodies, wondering how long it took for someone to create something so beautiful. To this day I still do that, as well as get myself up for school ten minutes earlier than I need to because I care so much about my outfit for the day. I believe that clothing is a huge part of expressing yourself, and I’ve always used it in that respect. Another big part of my life is that I was born 27 weeks early and have something called spastic cerebral palsy. I use a bright orange walker affectionately named Clementine, as well as a powerchair named Bumblebee and a manual wheelchair named Beauregard. So, that same 9-10 year old girl loved fashion but didn’t ever see herself on a runway. If you told younger me that I would BE on a runway someday?? I never would’ve believed you.
But that is exactly where I found myself in May, screaming in my car after I got an email saying I would be modeling. I was connected with an organization called Gamut Management a while ago because I wanted to see if I could go into modeling or acting. Gamut specifically works with disabled people, which is super cool! Their sister organization is run by the CEO of Gamut, Mindy Scheier. It’s called Runway of Dreams, and it helps people with disabilities break into the fashion industry, as well as encouraging the industry to be more inclusive. Every year, Runway of Dreams does a show during New York Fashion Week (yes, the NYFW) to showcase new adaptive clothing in the industry. Every model has a disability, and the show has grown to become incredibly popular and well known. They asked me to be a model in the upcoming show, and as you can imagine, I was over the moon. I put it in my calendar the day I found out, and before I knew it, it was time. The music, the sound of the crowd, the sheer gravity of what we were about to do…it felt like I was on top of the world.
One of the biggest things that organizations like Gamut and Runway of Dreams do is make space for people. As an activist, I believe that making all marginalized groups feel like there’s space for themselves in the world is so important. Seeing 40+ models with all different types of disabilities on a runway? That’s making space. That’s amplifying voices and perspectives and celebrating them! It was truly one of the most powerful, joyful feelings to be walking on that stage with people who know what you go through, and other people watching and screaming their appreciation. To be validated in that big of a way..wow. I was also incredibly grateful to have so many different people there with me. People with all kinds of backgrounds and experiences and things to share. Intersectionality is also super important, and we do not have collective justice for disabled people unless everyone has justice. Queer, trans, and people of color with disabilities are often represented even less, and we need to amplify those individuals more. This experience showed me that people with disabilities are OUT HERE, and that we are capable of so much. It also showed me how I can keep showing up for my fellow marginalized folks in ways that really matter. I wish everyone in the world has a chance to be in spaces where they feel wholly accepted, because that makes you feel the most understood. I am so proud to have been a part of this fashion revolution.