Birmingham Fashion Week (BFW) welcomes Madeline Stuart, the first globally recognized model with Down syndrome to open the runway shows on Thursday, August 25 at Boutwell Auditorium. The 19-year-old model from Brisbane, Australia says “Down syndrome is a blessing, something to be celebrated,” and has made it her mission is redefine the true meaning of beauty.

Heidi Elnora, TLC’s “Bride by Design” star, Birmingham, AL based bridal designer and founder of Birmingham Fashion Week has created a custom skirt for Madeline to wear during her BFW runway debut. The couture, high-low skirt has been designed exclusively for Madeline using custom patterns with a light pink, duchess satin from Italy featuring a light pink ruffle lining detail.
“I am so honored to have the opportunity to design a custom piece for the inspiring and sweet Madeline,” states Heidi Elnora, founder of Birmingham Fashion Week. “She is a true pioneer in the fashion industry and we are overjoyed to show her the love and support the City of Birmingham has for her as she continues her career in the modeling industry.”

The fresh-faced, flame-haired beauty has previously modeled in New York Fashion Week twice and been featured in leading publications such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Paper, Women’s Day, Elle, Marie Claire, and People, to name a few. Madeline possesses confidence and is an incredible modern-day, relevant role model in today’s fast changing society.

Birmingham Fashion Week is August 25 – 27, 2016 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, AL. Sponsors for BFW include: Alabama Power, Savannah College of Art and Design, The University of Alabama, Mercedes Benz of Birmingham, Schaeffer Eye Center and The City of Birmingham. Showcasing nationally recognized designers, emerging designers, retailers and models. For more information on Birmingham Fashion Week, ticket sales, a complete schedule of events, and participating designers and partners, please visit www.bhamfashionweek.com.

About Madeline Stuart:
Madeline has been featured in over 10,000 articles and news stories across the globe and over 500,000 mentions on Google and currently referred to as the world’s first Supermodel with Down syndrome by media outlets around the world. Additionally, she has been awarded the prestigious 2015 Model of the Year Award at international fashion show Mélange in San Francisco, whose partners include Jean Paul Gautier, Sephora and Nicole Miller. On her current trip to America, Madeline received the KultureCity Advocacy Award for her advocacy work in Uganda for people living with disability.

In 2016, Madeline headlined the Caspian Fashion Week in Russia; made her stage debut in London as part of the Culture Device Dance Project; went to Uganda to advocate for people living with Disabilities with Kulture City; she then went on to be the celebrity guest on the 3rd Mission Possible Cruise for Developmental Disability through Canada and Alaska. Currently Madeline is working in America at a series of events and television appearances. Recently finishing modelling in Boston, Ohio, San Francisco and New York. Madeline’s friendly, warm and thoughtful nature makes her immediately relatable. She has over 617,0000 Facebook users and over 142,000 Instagram followers: Facebook.com/madelinesmodelling | @madelinesmodelling_

About Birmingham Fashion Week:

Birmingham Fashion Week was founded on the ideals of bringing unity to the community through fashion. Two childhood best friends, Heidi Elnora (an internationally known fashion designer) and Jeana Lee Thompson (a successful retail business owner and fashionista) created Birmingham Fashion Week (BFW) in April 2011. After 6 years of hard work BFW has proven to be one of the TOP southeastern fashion events. BFW is recognized by local, regional, and national press for bringing in acclaimed designers like Tibi , Show Me Your MuMu, W3 Bespoke, Rebecca Taylor, What Goes Around Comes Around, Project Runway all -stars, and many many more. Not only has BFW hosted a handful of top designers they also support local boutiques, local designers, and the up -and-coming fashion designers in our community. Each year Birmingham Fashion Week showcases the talents of our local make-up artists and hair salons, photographers, models, and artists. BFW has now become the hub for fashion, encouraging locals and visitors alike to explore the creative talents of Birmingham, Alabama. For more details and a full schedule of events, please visit www.bhamfashionweek.com.