Jamie Brewer Will Be the First Model with Down Syndrome to Walk Fashion Week

(Image credit: Getty)

published 12 February 2015

New York Fashion Week may have only just started, but we're calling it now: Carrie Hammer will be one of the highlights of the season.

The designer, who shows Thursday morning, booked American Horror Story actress Jamie Brewer for her Fall 2015 show, making her the first woman with Down Syndrome to walk the NYFW runway.

"Young women...[see me] and say 'hey, if she can do it so can I,'" Brewer, who has also worked as an advocate for people with intellectual disabilities, told Today. "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 is modeling as part of Hammer's "Role Models Not Runway Models" campaign, which has previously included "a sex therapist who happened to be in wheelchair" and a woman who lost her limbs to bacterial meningitis.

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Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at MarieClaire.com. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.