South Africa’s own Azania Sweeney, who is seven years old, took Colombia by storm when she walked the Colombia Fashion Kids runway in September, with a viral video of the ‘African Barbie’ amassing over 10 million views on Instagram.
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The show marked the first Colombia Fashion Kids project – an event aimed at embracing diversity, empowerment and inclusivity, with both abled and differently-abled kids walking the runway.
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According to an article published by News24, Azania’s runway coach, Mervin Enver Marvey, says:
“They are using fashion for a purpose”,
“Seeing able children walking the runway with differently abled children was such an empowering manifestation of the natural humility that we have as people”, he added.
All proceeds from the event went to Colombia Corporation of Down Syndrome.
Azania’s dazzling debut
At the show, Azania made her first-ever runway debut in a beautiful pink dress made by Julio Castillo. The viral video of her walk was uploaded to Azania’s Instagram account, captioned as follows:
“What an incredible, and awakening moment to walk @colombiafashionkidsoficial as the very first South African model in this amazing (specially designed) creation by the talented @juliocastillo2222”
See the video here:
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When asked by News24 how her runway experience went, Azania responded:
“I felt nervous and excited at the same time.”
In her post, Sweeney thanked everyone for their support:
“Muchos Gracias, I felt absolutely beautiful and I definitely felt my POWER! Thank you to ALL in my journey, we made it! We broke barriers, made history and looked fabulous while at it!”
In concluding statements to News24, Marvey says:
“Azania has a very big and exciting future ahead of her. A lot of great things are going to be happening very shortly with [her].”
We can’t wait to see how Sweeney will make SA proud next!
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Feature Image: Instagram / @azania_sweeney
