Fashion Class with a Model!

It’s our weekly sowing class and the 4 high school aged girls are walking into our community center, out of the dreary Seattle rain, talking about the latest gossip from that day at school, begging for snacks and asking for time to just “chill” before we start our class.  Our normal facilitator is out for the day but she sent in a special guest, a local model, to talk to the girls about the fashion industry and more concretely, and more immediately important to the girls… how to walk the “catwalk.” 

 

 

The model has an air of tense and passionate professionalism that is seen as she sits at the edge of her chair, shoulders set back but not rigid and chin square.  Her eyes are narrowed as she looks on at the girl, patiently waiting for them to calm down and meet her in the corner of the room on the overstuffed couches.  The girls are from the community, all Somali, two, Aasia and Iba are wearing the traditional clothes and head wrapping, the hijob;  while the other two, Sabiha and Leila are wearing more main stream jeans and shirts cut just above their midriff.  They’re all feeling a bit on edge watching this guest, this model, wait silently for them to calm down. 

 

I sit next to the girls, also impressed with the stoic nature of this woman and try to talk to Sabiha, Leila, Aasia and Iba to quiet down.  After a brief chat about the life of a model and all that the job entails, the model moves into teaching the girls how to walk the “catwalk.”  Her standards for them are incredibly high and I notice they seem to wince under the presser, giggling uncontrollably as they practice their turns and are critiqued in front of their peers.  Their first couple walks are pretty bad. Leila can barely hold it together, she is trying but she is also fighting the need to act “cool” and like she has it together by not taking the direction seriously.  But then up steps Iba, and suddenly, I find myself looking at someone I do not immediately recognize, not a high school girl, but a strong young woman walking in confidence – boldly holding her head up with self-assurance and walking with purpose.  The other girls are stunned into silence as they witness one of their peers, one of their friends, take on a sense of pride and comfort in their own skin.  Aasia and Sabiha follow suit and even Leah eventually takes on her own walk and owns it.  By the end of the session I see girls, who have had difficulty finding poise and dignity turn into strong young women who are stomping around the “catwalk” like they own the place, like they will conquer the world. 

 

From an outsider looking in, the transformation might seem minimal but I know something has changed within them, something that will carry them forward into exciting opportunities and successes.