Kelsey Merritt may be a newcomer to the Victoria’s Secret runway, but her energetic and charming strut made her appear otherwise, going by a viral video of her debut in the iconic brand’s annual fashion show.
The Pampanga-born model took her turn on the catwalk last Friday (Manila time), ahead of the show’s TV premiere on December 2.
Merritt, 21, was among the models who sported outfits from the PINK line of Victoria’s Secret, based on snippets of the show filmed in New York.
The budding supermodel has long dreamt of joining the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. She actively pursued this in 2017, relocating in New York once she finished her studies at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Realizing that dream came hand-in-hand with meeting her idol, Victoria’s Secret icon Adriana Lima, whose swan song as an “Angel” coincided with Merritt’s debut.
“Growing up watching the @victoriassecret fashion show, I wanted to be like @adrianalima!” Merritt wrote in an Instagram post showing her with the supermodel. “She is such an inspiration. I can’t believe I get to say I’ve walked the show with her on her very last one after 18 years.”
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MIAMI, United States - An American model has made a splash by breastfeeding her baby daughter on a Miami catwalk -- no small gesture in a country where many women still feel uncomfortable nursing in public.
Walking the runway at a Sports Illustrated swimsuit show on Sunday, Mara Martin stepped out in a sparkling gold bikini while breastfeeding five-month-old Aria, kitted out for the occasion in green swimwear and noise-cancelling headphones.
In an Instagram post a day later, Martin expressed thanks for the overwhelmingly positive public response -- which far outweighed the smattering of posts on her social media feed criticizing the move as "not appropriate" or even "gross."
"I can't believe I am waking up to headlines with me and my daughter in them for doing something I do every day," she wrote. "It is truly so humbling and unreal to say the least."
"I'm so grateful to be able to share this message and hopefully normalize breastfeeding and also show others that women CAN DO IT ALL!"
According to Martin and organizers interviewed Tuesday on NBC's "Today," it was a spontaneous decision to breastfeed Aria on the runway.
"She was getting a little hungry and it was her dinner time, because the show kept getting pushed back," Martin told "Today."
So when one of the team suggested she go ahead and nurse her on the runway, she said yes.
The debate over public breastfeeding regularly resurfaces in the United States, where women are strongly encouraged to nurse their babies, even though many return to work within weeks of giving birth.
While all but a handful of US states give legal protection to mothers who breastfeed in public, much of society remains squeamish about the practice.
Cases of women being asked to cover up while feeding babies in restaurants, in stores or on public transport sporadically make headlines in the country -- with "nurse-ins" held in protest to demand wider acceptance of the practice.
In the latest breastfeeding-related controversy, President Donald Trump weighed in this month to defend women's "access" to formula milk, after the United States was accused of seeking to torpedo a World Health Organization resolution promoting breastfeeding.
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until the age of six months, and partial breastfeeding for two years or more.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
