Models with Down Syndrome Strut Their Stuff in N.Y.C. What One 21-Year-Old Told Herself Before the Runway (Exclusive)

If any one of the more than 30 participants walking in Gigi’s Playhouse’s 7th annual fashion show were nervous as they hit the runway in New York City, it didn’t show.

The organization — where PEOPLE’s Alexandra Schonfeld interned with following the birth of her brother Carter, who has Down syndrome — has a network of Down syndrome achievement centers across the country (and opened its N.Y.C. location in 2012.)

Their mission? To “empower our diverse participants to be included in the greater community, to be their whole selves as they truly belong, and to make the world a better place.”

After just six weeks of preparation, this year's red carpet was unloaded and the aux cord was plugged in to pump out each model’s song of choice as they walked to cheers at a packed high school auditorium on the Upper East Side on Saturday, March 8.

Participants of all ages wore outfits picked special for the day including 21-year-old Laura Lyle who spotted the perfect dress for the occasion on Alivia’s website, a brand that highlights artists with disabilities. 

"I saw this dress, [my caretaker] Kristin really liked it — I liked it too — so I told her I really wanted to get it and lo and behold here I am," Lyle, who served as one of the day’s emcees and is a 2025 Gigi’s Playhouse ambassador, tells PEOPLE of floral strapless dress that she paired with a tiara.

“It was so much fun walking the runway and rocking the world with my style,” she adds

To get ready for the show, which marked Lyle’s seventh appearance at the annual event, she started off the day with meditations and reciting affirmations. 

“I tell myself that I am beautiful and that I love my body and that I’m strong and I make friends wherever I go,” she says.

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And for Malik Jabbar, 21, another veteran of the annual event, there were no nerves ahead of his big moment as a model and co-emcee.

"My favorite part about today is seeing lots of people — mostly seeing lots of families ... and now we have new families join which is really happy and [we're starting to build up] for the next generation of Gigi’s," he says

Claudia Holub, a member of Gigi’s young professionals board who helped to organize the day, says that so much went on behind the scenes to make the event a success, including securing a location, ordering food and drinks and landing sponsor.

But, she adds, "our models are truly the ones who made it happen."

“They signed up: ‘Hey, I want to do this’, ” she continues. “They came to rehearsal, they put the effort in. They said, ‘This is my song. This is what I'm going to do. I'll be there two times to give you a practice run,’ and then they came out today and did their best.”

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For her big moment, Brittany Lee, 28, who walked — and showed off her dance moves— to Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul,” wore an outfit picked out by her mom, Mylinda. The fashionable ensemble included a bedazzled red shirt, chain belt and knee high boots which Mylinda explains took a few tries in order to pick just the right pair for her daughter to walk in. 

But by the time she hit the runway, Brittany says, “I was dancing it out."