New Orleans Fashion Week 2026
There are stage parents, and then there are parents who will literally fix the stage. When members of Eyrie Dance & Tumbling finished flipping, dancing, and tumbling their way down the red carpet at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie, the high-energy performance had understandably left the runway a little worse for wear. Before the next group of young models emerged, several parents jumped up from their seats and immediately began tugging, straightening and smoothing the carpet back into place. Among them was Toni Leming, whose daughter Lucy was about to make her runway debut.
It was peak stage-parent energy in the best possible way and a fitting snapshot of New Orleans Fashion Week's Kids Runway Day. The young models may have been in the spotlight, but all around them was a small army of parents, family members, organizers, and fellow models working to make sure they had their moment.
The Sunday, September 20 show at Lakeside Shopping Center's Center Court kicked off a packed week of events for New Orleans Fashion Week, now in its 16th season. The 2026 schedule stretches well beyond the traditional runway with parties, designer events, specialty showcases, and multiple runway events planned throughout the week, but the opening event belonged to the kids.
Under the sprawling glass atrium at Lakeside, a bright red carpet cut through rows of spectators as models ranging from very tiny children to teenagers showed looks from retailers including Dillard's, Macy's, and Janie & Jack. Some strutted, some twirled, some waved, and some clearly knew exactly where every camera was. Some of the youngest needed a little help, and rather than trying to disguise those moments, the show made them part of its charm. Older models could be seen helping guide younger children along the runway, something New Orleans Fashion Week founder Tracee Dundas said reflected what the organization tries to teach its young participants: "Models in all aspects of life."
Dundas said the children were primarily chosen through an open casting call, although some prospective models auditioned virtually. "I like to see them in person and see their personality shine," she said. When casting New Orleans Fashion Week shows, Dundas said she looks for variety among the models, including different ages, sizes and shapes, and personalities.
That approach was visible Sunday when the runway featured children at dramatically different ages and experience levels. Some of the older models walked with the practiced confidence of seasoned performers, while some of the smallest children took in the crowd with the understandable uncertainty of someone suddenly confronted with rows of strangers and phones pointed in their direction. Dundas recognized that "some of the little ones were a little struggling or shy," continuing, "When you're in front of an audience, you get a little shy about it. But we work together."
For at least one model, Sunday really was the beginning. Lucy Leming is 14 and turns 15 this week. She traveled with her family from Fort Walton Beach, FL, to make her first runway appearance, modeling for Dillard's. Her mother Toni said the timing was intentional. "I haven't let her do anything until she was 15, so this is her very first [show]," Leming said.
Lucy is already comfortable performing in other ways. She sings and participates in musical theater, but modeling is something new—you would not have known that watching her strut her stuff down the runway with a little one in training at her side. There are worse ways to spend the week leading into your 15th birthday than making your Fashion Week debut in a sequined look.
The Lemings were not the only family who traveled for the show. Renee Flitter came from Baton Rouge to watch her granddaughter, Mia Elizabeth, take the runway. Mia is both a model and actress, and Flitter said her granddaughter loved the experience. "She loved it," Flitter said. "Everything about it."
The children's outfits were selected for them rather than chosen by the models themselves, making the experience closer to an actual fashion assignment than a dress-up session.
Fourteen-year-old Madeleine brought another level of runway experience to the group, also modeling for Dillard's. Her mother said Madeleine had walked in New York just a week earlier, around the time of her birthday. Her presence illustrated the wide range of experience among the young models sharing Sunday's runway, from first-timers to kids already building résumés beyond Louisiana.
Fashion may have been the official reason everyone gathered in Center Court, but the afternoon was structured more like a variety show. Eyrie Dance & Tumbling brought one of the day's biggest bursts of energy. Founded by Eyrie Tolliver in 2021, the New Orleans-based dance and tumbling team combines dance, athleticism, and tumbling with a distinctly New Orleans style. The group has also appeared on America's Got Talent.
On Sunday, performers took over the red carpet itself, dropping to the floor and launching into synchronized choreography while spectators watched from only a few feet away. Participants did incredibly challenging aerial movements and acrobatics, which was especially astounding moving from the red carpet to Lakeside's marble floors. It was the type of performance that explains why the carpet needed some parental intervention afterward.
The day's program also highlighted other young entertainers, including 15-year-old Baton Rouge singer, actor, and model Miguel Carter and New Orleans-born recording artist Lil Prince Charmin, keeping the afternoon moving between fashion and live entertainment. All the while, the setting added its own unusual Fashion Week backdrop. Rather than a darkened ballroom or enclosed runway, models walked beneath Lakeside's enormous geometric glass ceiling in full afternoon sunlight. Shoppers gathered around the edges of the event, spectators filled folding chairs on either side of the carpet, and phones rose throughout the audience every time another group of children appeared.
At times, it felt like a professional fashion production. At other times, it felt unmistakably like a family event; often, it was both at once. New Orleans Fashion Week is celebrating Season 16 (Sweet 16) in 2026, with events running September 20-26. Dundas founded New Orleans Fashion Week in 2011, and she said creating opportunities remains central to what the organization is trying to accomplish.
"Opening doors and building opportunities is what this platform is all about," Dundas said. One event she said she was especially excited about was Thursday's reimagined design competition, where designers would present collections in a competitive format tied to opportunities in New York. For the young models walking on Sunday, however, the stakes were different. There was no need for every step to be perfect.
That may have been exactly what made the afternoon work. A toddler could hesitate, a teenager could help, a young performer could tumble hard enough to shift the red carpet several inches, and a handful of parents could rush onto the runway and straighten it again—then the music could start, another child could step forward, and the show could go on.
For some of them, it was simply a fun Sunday afternoon at the mall. For Lucy Leming and other first-time models, it might also have been the first walk toward something much bigger. Either way, their parents were there to make sure the carpet stayed straight.
New Orleans Fashion Week has events all
week from September 20-26, 2026. For more information, visit neworleansfashionweek.com.
