Words by Jenny Lynn Davis | Images by Al Blanton and courtesy of Tiffany Conner
For 12-year-old Rylee Strickland, walking a runway is nothing new. Walking a runway at New York Fashion Week, however, was an entirely different experience.
The Oakman Middle School sixth grader recently made her New York Fashion Week debut, modeling for designer Marc Defang in New York City. The opportunity began when her mother decided, almost on a whim, to send in a few photographs.
Rylee, who has competed in pageants since she was 4, was already familiar with Defang’s work through the pageant world. Her mother, Tiffany Conner, followed the designer online and noticed calls for models for upcoming shows.
“I was like, ‘Just for fun, I’m going to send him her photos,’” Tiffany recalls.
A few days later, someone from Defang’s team reached out requesting Rylee’s measurements. About a week after that came the invitation: If she were interested, they would love to have her in New York for Fashion Week.
Rylee was coming home from school when her mother shared the news.
“I was very excited. Very nervous, though, but very excited,” Rylee says. “And surprised!”
Although years of pageant competition had made Rylee comfortable onstage and in front of crowds, she quickly learned that runway modeling required a different skill set.
The biggest adjustment?
“I had to learn that we cannot smile,” she says. “That was a big, hard thing for me because I can’t really go on a stage without smiling.”
Her mother jokingly reminded her that, as a model, she was essentially a “walking clothes hanger” whose job was to showcase the clothing.
And there was not much time for rehearsal. Rylee had one practice walk at 8 a.m. the day of the show before taking the runway that evening. In between, she practiced in the hallway of their hotel, particularly in the four-inch heels she would wear during the show.
By the time she stood backstage ready to make her debut, the nerves had arrived in full force.
“There were a lot of cameras and a lot of people,” Rylee says. “I’m not stage-frightened, but it still scared me a little.”
Then she stepped onto the runway.
“The only things I was thinking were, ‘Walk. Don’t smile,’” she says. “Those two things. Just concentrate.”
At the end of the runway, she found herself facing more cameras than she had expected.
“I didn’t know which one to look at,” she says. “I just remember standing at the front for a few seconds, then turning around and walking off.”
Watching from the audience, Tiffany experienced some nerves of her own. She had watched her daughter perform on large stages before, but this time felt different.
“She had been so scared the whole time,” she says. “She got to a point I hadn’t really seen from her before. She was doubting herself, which isn’t like her.”
But that made watching Rylee push through the fear all the more meaningful.
“That kid will fight through fear,” she says. “She doesn’t have to get over her fear before she does something. She can be terrified and still do it. She hits it head-on.”
The trip brought another milestone experience, too. Rylee saw herself on a Times Square billboard and posed for photographs amid the crowds.
“That doesn’t normally happen,” she says. “You don’t end up on a billboard in Times Square on a random day.”
Away from the fashion world, one of the most meaningful parts of the trip came through another of Rylee’s interests: history. She and her mother visited the 9/11 Memorial while in New York and saw the Tribute in Light illuminating the skyline.
Back home, Rylee has been surrounded by support from friends, family, and teachers, many of whom checked in throughout the trip to see what she was doing next.
But perhaps the biggest thing Rylee brought home from New York was a changed understanding of what she can accomplish.
“I’ve always wanted to be in New York Fashion Week, but I never thought it was really an option,” she says. “Now it’s like, I’ve already done it.”
She already wants to return to the runway and has her sights set even farther away: Paris, London, and perhaps Tokyo Fashion Week.
Her advice for another child from a small town with a dream that seems impossibly far away is simple.
“Just go for it,” Rylee says. “Because once you do it, it will open so many doors for you.”
And after a week that took her from Oakman to a New York Fashion Week runway, she has learned something else.
“Anything’s possible.” WL
