Joelle Morrow has her focus set on the future. As an up-and-coming lingerie designer, she's overcome multiple setbacks on the road to achieving her dream of opening her own boutique but has yet to be knocked down, leaving her no time to think about...
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"Are you sure it fits okay?"
Nia pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she studied the lacy red bralette and panties she wore, fiddling nervously with the fabric of her sheer black kimono. Her light brown skin and curves served as a stunning backdrop to the outfit, but knowing this was the first show she'd walked in since giving birth to her daughter a few months back, I could tell it wasn't my designs she was unsure about. It was the stretch marks that now graced her skin and the way her body had changed over the course of the last year.
Except those marks and imperfections were exactly what made her the perfect model in my eyes.
"Trust me, you look gorgeous," I said, smiling with reassurance as I gave the outfit one final tweak. "And I'm not just saying that because you're wearing my designs."
Her lips twitched as she exhaled slowly, mentally psyching herself up to step out onto the runway. "Okay." She nodded at herself in the mirror. "Okay."
"You've got this."
Her eyes sparked with gratitude before she was ushered towards the stage curtains by the show's director, and as she hit the runway—stunningly confident—the crowd roared with applause.
Though being one of the designers meant there was no time to bask in the extravagance of the show.
As a last-minute addition to today's show, which included a handful of up-and-coming designers who I looked up to in the Greater Boston region, I needed to keep a level head. Which meant ignoring the hum of excitement in my chest. Instead, I harnessed my energy into keeping up with the craziness backstage—double-checking my designs were put together properly, working with the hair and makeup artists to ensure the models were styled to match their outfits, and making any final changes to the pieces before the women walked out on the runway.
It was one thing after another—like my mind was perpetually telling me to go! go! go!—yet as quickly as everything moved, it came to an end all the same. After sending my last model out on stage, I stood alongside the other designers behind the curtains and watched with pride as every model took one last trip down the runway. A constant stream of diverse colors, fabrics, and styles which received an enthusiastic applause.
And despite it only being my first time participating in a show since I'd stepped out on my own, I had a glimmer of hope that, with the success of today, it wouldn't be the last.
***
When the music stopped and the lights came back on, things were quick to unravel. The audience cleared out within minutes and as the models followed suit, the outfits made their way back to the hangers where they belonged. It was a frenzy of organized chaos, and when I finally felt like I had a moment to myself to take it all in, Lilian, the designer who'd overseen the planning for today's show, appeared at my work station.
