Title:
Adaptive Fashion on the Runway of Dreams NYC Fashion Week
Subtitle:
Alycia and her best friend, Katie, reflect on New York Fashion Week
Transcript:
Alycia Anderson: Welcome to pushing forward with Alycia, a podcast that gives disability a voice each week. We will explore topics like confidence, ambition, resilience, and finding success against all odds. We are creating a collective community that believes that all things are possible for all people. Open hearts, clear paths. Let’s go.
Welcome back to pushing forward with Alycia. I’m Alycia. You guys, we just got off of the most amazing event. I was just in New York city at during New York fashion week, where I got to roll myself down the runway of a fashion show.
And wow, was it an incredible experience. And today’s guest got to experience this with me. So I’m so excited to kind of
do a day in the life review of our experience together. But before we get there, I want to introduce my guest. Her name is Katie Davis. Katie Davis is one of my very best friends, like the ones that you call bestie, the BFF, the soul sister, all of that.
She’s been in my life since we were waitresses in college a long time ago. And she’s the one that has always believed in me and my dreams. in advance that I believed in them and myself. And back in my, my younger career, when I was a salesperson and I was slinging technology to companies and on the road all the time, I would call Katie and talk to her for hours while I was driving around working.
And I would just say to her, ah, one day I want to be a speaker. One day I want to do the things that I’m doing today. And she’s the one that always. Believed in me and knew it would happen. Like literally she would send me every book, figure out how to do it. And it’s been a beautiful friendship and I really appreciate how much you’ve supported and believed in me.
Um, and I think having those types of friendships are really important in life because they encourage you to see things in yourselves that you might not see initially. Um, how to make things possible. So Katie, thank you for being that for me and welcome to your first podcast interview ever
Katie Davis: Oh, I love it. you.
Alycia Anderson: of you.
Katie Davis: Happy to be here.
Alycia Anderson: And fun fact, Katie’s a total podcast fanatic. So she listens and she critiques this podcast and also gives me lots of, um, great information and good ideas. So
Katie Davis: Number one fan. I’m
Alycia Anderson: you get it. I need to make an award or something. so runway of dreams. Let’s talk about it. Okay. So maybe like three or four weeks before I was ready to like hit the runway.
I mentioned to Katie that I’m doing this thing. I didn’t, Marty was the only one that was scheduled to come with me. It was very expensive for other people to come because it’s nonprofit and as it should be, they were trying to sell seats and make some money to be able to continue to do the work that they’re doing.
And I was on the phone with Katie and I was telling her this thing that I’m doing and she goes, can I come? And I go. You want to come? And she says, yeah, I want to come. And she’s lives out on the East coast and she made it happen. And so number one, to have my BFF there, the one that always believed in me.
In the audience and supporting me all day was really cool in itself. how did it feel to you to witness this type of event and this experience and being part of the New York fashion week, Katie,
Katie Davis: I mean, it honestly feels like a dream. It’s hard to even put it into words. It was just such an incredible, amazing experience from beginning to end. And I’m just so grateful that I was able to be there with you. It really was just. Just remarkable.
Alycia Anderson: let me give a visual of how Katie, um, enjoyed this. event. So I think sometimes in my life, the day in the life of Alycia, the motivational speaker, who’s hitting stages all of the time, I’ve gotten pretty used to it. Not that I don’t appreciate it. Not that I don’t love every moment of everything that I get to do because I know it’s a privilege.
Um, but to have one of your besties come in, who believes in what you’re doing through and through and fully. And to bring her in for every stage of it. It was like hair, makeup, fittings, meeting everyone, hanging out backstage, red carpet, all of the fun little things that we got to do in the beginning.
Her face was like lit up the entire time. It was like your eyes would swell with tears and then you were happy and you’re like, I can’t believe this. talk about that.
Katie Davis: I mean, I’m so glad that I was able to be there from the beginning to the end because I mean, the event in and of itself was amazing, but to be able to see the whole process was an experience. Um, Everyone who was there from the volunteers to the guests, to the models, everyone was so into it so happy.
And so wonderful. Um, it was just remarkable. And, you know, when you were speaking with Target, with Zappos, with these big companies, they were so invested in what you were saying. I’m not even sure you realize. know, they were just soaking up, like, everything that you had to say, and thought it was absolutely incredible.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. And to have that experience to meet these brands and do work with them has been a privilege for me. I actually got to wear down the runway, uh, one of the products that target has an adaptive line. I rolled down the runway for target and, you know, behind the scenes, I did some fit modeling and a little bit of consulting on this garment specifically.
And it’s, It’s going to be released this fall, and it’s a adaptive puffer jacket. And um, so the fact that I’ve had the privilege to work with companies like Target and Victoria Secret and, and many others on, um, Kind of consulting and fit modeling on some of these adaptive products has been really not only fun, but fulfilling to see these products come to life that are universally developed to work for not only able bodied people, but for disabled people.
So, a long puffer jacket makes sense, putting it on and wearing it, whether you have you’re a wheelchair user or you’re autistic or anything else. And. That is not the typical fashion culture, I guess, where you’re developing and your products to be adaptive and have a line for it. And, um, we’ve come a long way in our, in our society and in business that businesses like target are starting to invest.
In, in many, many products, it wasn’t just the jacket. It was like, I got this cute cross body that also can be, it can hang from the back of my wheelchair. And they just sent Marty and I adaptive matching raincoats for the winter. And there’s just really cool products that. Make it so much easier to zappos like high tops that go on will actually go onto my feet and stay on.
And, um, just really incredible. Number one, to be able to be a part of that, but to have so many other brands doing it, um, is a real move.
Katie Davis: You were more than a model. Much more.
Alycia Anderson: Model first though, because it was my moment.
Katie Davis: Yes. And you worked it. Um,
Alycia Anderson: I tried to soak it up. I was like, big hair, big makeup, big stage presence. Let’s make it happen. what do you think this type of experience represents for not only the disabled community, but I mean, Katie doesn’t have a disability. So what is this, what is this type of experience represent for?
community and beyond.
Katie Davis: So something that really stuck with me after the event you know, before all the models came out, there were some awards and there were some speakers and Victoria’s secret received an award. But, uh, they were talking about. How they weren’t in this for the money. And but, you know, the gist of what I took away from that was, you know, they were in it because they saw a need and they saw a community that they could help. And it was the right thing to do. And, uh, I just have really been thinking about that, like how we can all, take that into our lives, you know, it’s one person, for example, Mindy, you know, she had this child with a disability and she worked in the fashion industry and she saw a need and had a very lofty goal of. Changing the entire fashion industry. And, um, I believe that she is along with a lot of other people, but you know, it takes one person and then another person and one big company to actually say, we’re going to do this. And then another company follows in another company. And now this has been going on, you know, this runway of dreams for 10 years. it’s just remarkable to me. It’s not about. Money and everyone there was so into it. um, you know, if you look at just the fashion industry as an example, know, if we can all do that in our lives, whether it’s personally or professionally, we’re uplifting everyone. And I just think it’s amazing.
Alycia Anderson: I love that. And I guess to do just like a little bit of backstory. Mindy Shire is the founder of the runway of dreams. If our listeners don’t know who she is, I’m assuming some do and some won’t. Um, and she created this nonprofit 10 years ago, like Katie just said, and through, um, Advocacy and the partnerships of companies.
Like we’ve mentioned, target Zappos, Victoria’s secret and on and on Tommy Hilfiger, um, they’ve created this annual fashion show that brings in models of all abilities. Um, and they’re challenging the status quo of what our society considers beautiful and the representation of models going on the stage.
With limb differences and wheelchair users. And I mean, there was a whole gamut of diversity and disability that was on that stage. And being the representation that frankly has been rejected by the fashion industry through millennia, you know, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, it was really hard for a disabled model to be included in any type of runway, um, show, let alone Hired to console used as an expert to figure out how to make these products actually work for disabled people.
so this is a very important and big movement for this organization and beyond. It’s showing the representation of the real lived human experience, which includes disability, because we say it on the show all the time, disability can, and will more than likely enter your life at some point.
Katie Davis: Well, and to think about, you know, fashion has definitely expanded just in my lifetime with, you know, including a lot more sizes. Yeah. And okay, that’s more inclusive, but there’s a lot more to it.
Alycia Anderson: remember when we went in for the fitting. Like, what if I’m wearing shorts? What if I’m doing this? and I was having all this stress. And I wanted to look good. And so I was afraid. And we go in there for the fitting and the target people are there.
And we go into the back and we start looking through the garments. And Everything was accessible. I pulled the jeans, the jeans had like, they were pull on jeans and they had a layer of legging material or, or cotton in front where the zipper would be. So there was no issue with them not fitting correctly.
And. All of my stress about, is this garment going to fit me, right? Literally went away instantly because there was a complete outfit from shoes to shirt, to jacket, to jeans, to my cute little a necklace. Like everything was accessible and I didn’t have to worry about whether I had to make my body fit.
For something that wasn’t made for me.
Katie Davis: Right. And I mean, that actually, that experience made me think back. And I even told you, like, always look so cute and I guess I never really thought about the extra time and effort it takes for you to find the clothes to find stores that offer clothes that are in your size to find and try on shoes that won’t fall off your feet. I hate shopping. And it can be frustrating for many people of all abilities, but then you add a disability and I guess it just wasn’t something that I had put enough thought into about how frustrating that could be for you and a lot of other people.
Alycia Anderson: Yeah,
Katie Davis: bravo to all of the companies that are providing these. Clothes and I hope more companies offer more as well.
Alycia Anderson: totally. And bravo to the runway of dreams and other companies of such that are putting forth the time and the resources and the effort to changing this narrative that, I don’t even know if I acknowledged fully what a problem it has been my whole life for clothes to not fit me. Like I have always just had to.
Figure it out. And, to have that experience specifically to go in and find that pair of jeans that was waiting for me, that actually worked, that was freedom. Like that was absolute. freedom and feeling like I was seen and considered for who I am, the way that I am, without trying to fit this disabled body into something that was not designed for me.
And they’re making these clothes universal. So they like work for everybody in a lot of the cases.
Katie Davis: Yeah. And it all still really looks nice, you know, like a shirt that was Velcro, but it didn’t look like it was Velcro. couldn’t tell, you know, just by looking at something, all of the adaptations that had been made, that it was still really beautiful, nice clothing
Alycia Anderson: Yeah. And those adaptations, like what people don’t understand is it actually makes a path of least resistance for everybody to use their product.
And, you know, maybe you are a mom and you always have a baby in your arms and it would be easier to just, use a magnet to close your jacket and not have to worry about putting the button through.
Katie Davis: Right.
Alycia Anderson: this translates to every company, every product. Everywhere, and it just makes you feel really good as a disabled person to roll down that runway and see all of these people in the audience, just so excited. To. and be a part of it and cheering you on.
Katie Davis: Mean, the vibe in there was electric.
Alycia Anderson: It meant the world to me to see the joy on your face with every single moment of the process all day. You know, I’m just so grateful that we had that moment because you really are The one that has been cheering me on for so long. And so the fact that you got to like come and experience kind of my world and what’s where, where I’ve come from driving around going, I just want to be a speaker one day
Katie Davis: crazy.
Alycia Anderson: It only took 25 years, but who’s counting.
Katie Davis: We’ve come a long way.
Alycia Anderson: Um, In the show notes, we’ll leave all the information about the runway of dreams and how, if anybody wants to follow them and support them, be a part of the show, all of that, you can, um, find that
like you want to talk about art, like friendship a little bit anything, is there any thoughts about that?
Katie Davis: to. Where do we start?
Alycia Anderson: Probably with a glass of wine and, um, I don’t know, a beach somewhere or something.
Katie Davis: I mean, I met you when I was 21 and had moved to Orange County, California from Iowa, not knowing a single person. I went out for dinner the night that I got there to a Mexican restaurant with my dad. I’m like, well, I need a job. May as well apply here. And I got the job and I met Alycia and the rest is history.
We’ve, been able to grow into women and support each other and believe in each other and do all the things. I’ve still moved a lot and we’ve still stayed close and I love you. It’s been great.
Alycia Anderson: I love you too so much. You know, like I’m kind of reminiscing now back at that, like 20 something when we first met and like, I don’t remember my disability even being a thing. Did you?
Katie Davis: I mean, one of the story, and I was kind of thinking about that as well, like, I don’t even think we ever talked about it. It was never a thing, you know, I remember seeing you, once I started the job and was like, Oh dang, she’s kicking butt waiting tables over there. Like I got to keep up with Alycia.
So, and, uh, Yeah, we went to a concert together like right away and, I’m like, let’s go to the front row. And I remember you being hesitant. Like, what do you mean? I’m like, well, you gotta be able to see like, we’re going to the front row. And you were kind of like, I’ve never been to the front row and I was like, why not? And you, we had an issue with the bathroom. The handicapped bathroom was. Like totally taped off and it’s the only bathroom you could use and I was like, okay, we’re going in the bathroom. We’re breaking through the tape, you know, it was like, we’re doing it, but that’s sort of also who you’ve always been, at least in my eyes is. There have never been any obstacles. You just figure it all out. I don’t know. It’s, you’ve always been a great role model,
Alycia Anderson: that bathroom story right there I don’t think I would have done that at that age without you going, no, let’s go do that because I didn’t want to be that person that had to say, no, I need in here.
I am now, but it’s taken me a long time to get like that. So I think it just shows like the power of. and having somebody in your corner. So great memory.
Thank you for supporting the podcast the way that you do. You definitely are the number one fan, that’s for sure. you know that we can’t end a show without a pushing forward moment do you have a pushing forward moment you want to share with our listeners?
Katie Davis: Um, I think my pushing forward moment would be kind of what I took away from, the Runway of Dreams experience and that. there’s power in showing showing up, showing up as a friend, showing up professionally, showing up personally, whether it’s speaking up in a boardroom saying, you know, Hey, what if we tried this or, you know, Being there for your friend.
It’s powerful. And when we can all come together, and do that, you can make big change
Alycia Anderson: mm The power of showing up. I love it. thank you so much for always showing up for me in our friendship,
Katie Davis: Thank you.
Alycia Anderson: like in every way with no expectations, no judgments, just love and support, and. Literally always being there for me. I love you dearly, deeply, long, far, wide, hard, all of it.
And, I’m so happy that that little girl from Iowa came into the restaurant and started waiting tables with me so long ago, because we win you’ve
Katie Davis: is, means the world to me. I mean, you have changed my life, I love you so much. And I’m so happy that I was able to do this with you and I can’t wait to go be your cheerleader again.
Alycia Anderson: I love you too. All right. And I also love. our community on this podcast, and I appreciate you showing up every single week for us. This has been another wonderful conversation and episode of pushing forward with Alycia, and that is how we roll on this podcast.
We will see you next time.