Kids with special needs shimmy and sparkle down the runway at SHINE Fashion Show
Sunday afternoon, families, friends and community supporters sat on the edge of their seats in Somerset Collection South with necks craned and grins plastered, waiting for the moment that their child with special needs begins their stroll down the runway at the SHINE Fashion Show.
The SHINE Fashion Show is an annual charity event hosted by Variety the Children’s Charity of Detroit and FAR Therapeutic Arts & Recreation that gives children with physical and cognitive challenges an opportunity to model clothes of their choosing and bask in a spotlight.
While donations from the fashion show help to fund FAR’s creative arts and recreations camp programs and Variety’s 4-H Horseback Riding program, the SHINE Fashion Show is more about the experience of the models.
“This isn’t our biggest money-maker but it’s exposure, and it’s for these children,” said David King, president of Variety. “There’s not one person who doesn’t have a smile on their face.”
“The event is rooted in raising awareness and allowing the kids to be in the center of the room,” said Michelle Murphy, Variety executive director. “Each model picks out their very favorite song to walk down the runway to, and they also give their sizes, color references and type of clothing they like, so everything you saw and heard here today is really driven by what they like.”
The morning of, models pick up their fashions from Somerset Collection Fall 2023 line and continue on to Alex Emilio Salons, one of the sponsors of the event, where several stylists doll up the models however they’d like. From big bows to butterfly clips and fluffy eyelashes to shiny lipgloss, the stylists made their dream model-look happen.
Then the models returned to the mall where they prepare their big runway moment on the first floor of Somerset Collection South, right across from Louis Vuitton. As kids walk side-by-side a mentor, onlookers never fail to circle around the balcony above, curious and then endeared by the scene below them.
“SHINE stands for the idea: shining a light on kids and families with special needs,” said Murphy. “We like that families attend and kids can experience a fashion show like this. That’s how they learn acceptance and inclusivity.”
In its eighth year, the fashion show featured 22 children and teenagers with special needs from both Variety and FAR, accompanied by some familiar faces like Miss Michigan 2023 Maya Schuhknecht and WXYZ-TV anchor Glenda Lewis, among others.
While some kids were a bit shy to model for a crowd for the first time, others were no stranger to the runway — and let the audience know it.
Some kids beamed and waved while some sassily strutted, pausing to spin, blow the adoring crowd a kiss, or flex their muscles confidently, and finally end with a dramatic pose. A few kids even danced down the runway as the audience clapped in time to their favorite tune sounding from the speakers.
The models came back for one final lap together, each with a yellow rose in hand, before returning to their tear-stricken yet smiling families. Together with their mentors, they posed for one last photo-op before leaving with the fashions they modeled as a gift from Somerset Collection.
“This is her third or fourth year and she always says ‘I feel like a celebrity’,” said Melissa Destross about her daughter, Taliah. “It warms our heart to give her this experience.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kids with special needs own the runway at SHINE Fashion Show
