Last fall, Double Take, a first-of-its-kind runway show aiming to increase disability visibility, break down stereotypes and champion adaptive fashion, took New York Fashion Week by storm (see Vogue’s story here).
The show is traveling to Orlando for the Cure SMA Annual SMA Conference on June 29, and Burien’s own Allegra Keys will be a featured participant.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease that affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and leads to muscle weakness that can impact a person’s ability to perform basic life functions, such as walking, swallowing and breathing. SMA does not affect a person’s ability to think, learn or build relationships with others.
Allegra Keys explained: “This show is helping because it demonstrates to the nondisabled community that people with disabilities are here and deserve to take up the same types of spaces that they take up. When I was a kid, I never saw anyone that looked like me on TV let alone a fashion show, and it really harmed my self-esteem growing up. We know that representation is so important, and this show is about providing an avenue of authentic representation for people that have SMA, which is crucial for the upcoming generation.“
According to Allegra, “My dress was taken up in length by quite a bit, and some fabric was taken out of the shoulder straps. Because of my extremely petite stature it’s difficult to find clothes that fit me in flattering ways. I know for some of the other participants in the show that have a little more mobility the designers made alterations to help them get their clothes on independently, but they did so in ways where function wouldn’t sacrifice form. “
The Double Take Fashion was put on by Genentech’s SMA My Way program, which is a program where Genentech collaborates with the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) community on projects and resources catered to that community. Allegra said “I think what inspired this fashion show was the desire to put people with SMA in places we aren’t usually seen. People like me are typically not seen in the media, and we definitely weren’t often seen in the fashion industry.
