Jamie Brewer: Down’s Syndrome model makes history
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JAMIE Brewer has made history at New York Fashion Week, after becoming the first model with Down’s Syndrome to take to the catwalk.
Brewer - who appears in the TV American Horror Story - modelled for Carrie Hammer, and walked as part of the Role Models Not Runway Models show, an initiative that invites inspirational women to showcase Hammer’s work.
Hammer told USA Today: “We feature incredible influential women on the runaway. CEOs, executives, activist, actresses, anyone who is the top of the field, top of their game.
“Jamie is an absolute star.”
The actress, who wore a dress inspired by her character on American Horror Story, told the Today TV programme: “Young girls and even young women see me and say ‘hey, if she can do it so can I’.
“It’s a true inspiration being a role model for any young women to [encourage them] in being who they are and showing who they are.”
Brewer, 30, has been an advocate for people with intellectual disabilities since she was a teenager.
Prior to her historic turn on the catwalk, Brewer told People magazine that she managed to control her nerves, adding: “I thought I was going to be [nervous], but honestly, I just channelled it into excitement.”
And speaking about her own inspiration, the actress explained: “There are many role models I’ve been around. There’s a show called Push Girls, with all women in wheelchairs, and they’re all really good friends of mine.
“And one, Angela Rockwood, is still modelling, in a wheelchair. After a car accident. That was her career before she was in a wheelchair, and she’s still modelling – she’s a huge inspiration to me.”
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