The Runway of Dreams Foundation was founded in 2014 by Mindy Scheier with one goal: to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The foundation helps promote the mainstream need for adaptive clothing and to help promote people with disabilities in the fashion industry. The foundation has partnered with many mainstream brands, including Kohl’s, Target, JCPenney, Zappos.com and Tommy Hilfiger.
Runway of Dreams at Kent State was founded in spring 2021 by its current president, Bri Cummings, a senior fashion design and fashion merchandising major. The club partners with the foundation to raise awareness at 鶹ý of the need for adaptive clothing.
“I’m disabled myself, and being a designer, I knew there was such a need for adaptive clothing,” Cummings said. “I saw so much possibility with the fashion school for something like this. So, I reached out to the foundation about starting a club here on campus.’
The club hosted its second annual adaptive fashion show on April 5, partnering with Kent State club Paws for a Cause. The show featured both human and dog models in the runway show. Through the foundation’s connections, the club was able to partner with different adaptable clothing brands, including Zappos Adaptive and MAI We Care.
The show started with a speech from Cummings and the club's vice president, Taylor Ross, spoke about the club and showcased a video from the foundation, highlighting its accomplishments made in 2022. The Flashes Elite Dance Team then took the stage to perform a routine.
Two club members, accompanied by an American Sign Language (ASL) translator, stood onstage and announced the models as they entered. The show included 10 models and three service dogs-in-training walking the runway. Friends and family cheered the models on as they sashayed the runway, showcasing the adaptive clothing they were wearing.
As the show came to a close, all the models returned onstage and received a standing ovation from the audience.
“I’m proud and really happy that an event like this is being held,” said Todd Rickel, father of one of the models.
At the show's end, both audience members and club members had smiles on their faces.
Seeing the change that is happening at Kent State is a reason vice president Ross decided to join the club.
“It’s one thing to raise money or go to a voting booth, but to physically enact that change and help people out with that is a really big deal to me,” Ross said.
The show put on by Runway of Dreams at Kent State shows that the future of fashion is both inclusive and adaptive.
“We are so excited to continue our disability advocacy and empowerment work on Kent’s campus,” Cummings said.
For more information, please visit .