10-Year-Old Makes Design Debut At NYFW With Her All-Size Label
Egypt ‘Ify’ Ufele puts the finishing touches to one of her designs [Photo: Instagram/bullychasers]
Watching backstage as the models strutted confidently down the catwalk clad in the boldly patterned outfits she’d designed, Egypt Ufele couldn’t help but feel proud. She was making her debut at New York Fashion Week, a huge achievement by any fashion designer’s standards, but particularly when you consider that Egypt is just 10-years-old.
Egypt Ufele, or ‘Ify’ as she prefers to be known, was first inspired to start designing after being bullied about her weight at school.
“I was bullied and they called me all kinds of names,” she tells Today. “One time I got stabbed with a pencil.”
Bright spark! Ify sews all her designs herself [Photo: Instagram/bullychasers]
But instead of letting the cruel taunts get her down, Ify decided to channel her upset into creativity so that ‘no plus size kid like me ever felt left out of the fashion world’.
After learning to sew and cut patterns aged seven with the help of her grandmother, who’s an ‘expert seamstress’ Ify started hand-sewing clothes for her dolls before going on to create Chubiiline (pronounced Chubby Line), an all-size clothing brand for girls.
Now Ify has become the only child designer to dress curvy models at New York Fashion Week. According to her website, Ify’s designs are about “bringing Africa to American, one design at a time.” And with their bright colours and tribal prints, it’s a look she’s nailed.
Ify with some of her models [Photo: Instagram/bullychasers]
Though Ify is embracing her budding fashion design career and hopes to follow older sister, Sade, who studies at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, she hasn’t forgotten what inspired her to achieve her fashion goals in the first place.
“I turned negative attention into positive attention,” she says.
Anyone else wishing they could go back and give their 10-year-old self a rousing shake?
Do you have an inspirational story to share? Get in touch @YahooStyleUK.
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