Happy New Year! This post gives me a chance to reflect on the whirlwind of 2024, and to give you an update from Ashton and the family Nowers… 🙂
by Jennie Nowers
Supporting Ashton to make his debut at Kidz Fashion Week Gets Festive in July last year was a big mission. Finding someone to make the dress Ashton had designed turned our to be the biggest hurdle. We managed to get on ABC Brisbane and approached our local community via social media – which was itself a challenge because Ash (perhaps surprisingly!) is actually quite shy and reserved!
In the end, a fellow parent kindly offered their free time to the dressmaking cause. There were logistical challenges given it was his first design to go from paper to reality, and we were complete novices when it came to the inner workings of the fashion industry!
Of course I was hugely excited on the big day, and immensely proud, but I don’t mind admitting that I also felt a welcome sense of relief when the dust settled 🙂
But then of course he was invited to KFW Gets Spooky three months later, and we had to do it all over again! This time, another good friend offered to help Ashton’s new design come to life, around her own busy schedule, and she did an incredible job! This new show was in Melbourne, though, and I would need to fly from Brisbane with Ash and his younger brother Lucas. This represents a distinct logistical challenge at the best of times, and unfortunately that journey did not turn out to be one of the best of times… Let’s just say the night before Ashton’s big show, we were in RCH Emergency Department until midnight after Lucas had a nasty fall. But we got there…
It’s a special moment for a parent when you see your kid fulfil a dream. Ash even walked his younger brother down the runway in honour of Super Tees, a charity that makes clothing for children with medical needs. That was a moment I will never forget. I think a few tears were shed in the audience!
After the Get Spooky event, I explained to Ashton that we couldn’t make a habit of expecting people to make his outfits when they all have their own lives to live. I said to him this would probably be our last show.
Not long after, I was contacted by Bonni Sullivan, the organiser of a new Runway Competition called Dreams to Reality in Mudgee in 2025, who had seen a video of Ashton’s design being modelled at KFW. Her daughter Paisley is actually the youngest model to walk in London and Paris Fashion Weeks, and modelled for a Filipino designer called Norman Acuba. Bonni had contacted Norman to show him some of Ashton’s work, and he was seriously impressed!
I can’t help but feel that this is an incredible opportunity for Ashton to learn from an established designer, and to have a whole series of garments professionally made and modelled. That said, it would involve a financial outlay that makes my eyes go watery…Norman will be showcasing his own designs at Dreams to Reality in April 2025, and Ashton has also been invited to take part. This is on a different level from presenting a single garment: Norman has offered to mentor Ashton, and to help him make his very first collection of 10 outfits to be walked as a designer showcase.
I’m going to start approaching potential sponsors to help. We already have Life Skill Adventure and Support Services, the disability support company that supports both of Ashton’s brothers, on board to offer some sponsorship for this young carer who is dear to their heart. One dress has also been group funded by a group of medical mums in support of my family too. If you’re reading this and if you have any ideas at all about potential sponsors or sources of funding, I’d love to hear from you!