Japanese model Nao Saito fulfilled a lifelong dream of walking down the runway as a model, debuting at the Paris Fashion Week.
Known by her stage name, Nao, she was born with Down syndrome, but never allowed that to set back her ambitions. The Mainichi Daily reports that she had over 40 surgeries due to her low muscle tone and complications with her heart and lungs.
This did not deter her, and she trained rigorously to make it to the runway, telling the media that she often cried because of the physical strain her training required. That did not stop her, and after five years of preparation she premiered as a model in Paris wearing a kimono-inspired red dress that featured gold trim.
“It was fun. I was nervous,” she said, according to Japan Today. When asked what she wanted to do next, the Shizuoka Prefecture native replied that she wants to “appear in a show in the United States.”
Her mother, Yumi Saito, supported her child’s dreams and described crying as her daughter walked down the runway. “I didn’t think it was a dream that could be made possible,” she told the media.
READ: Woman with Down syndrome takes on modeling world
The 19-year-old model was able to appear thanks to a sponsorship from Makoto Okubo, who leads a group promoting U.N. sustainable development goals through music.
BNN reports that she walked in international designer Samina Mughal’s show wearing a dress from Miyabi Ikeda’s rental company that took inspiration from a French doll and the traditional Japanese “hina” doll. Ikeda said that Nao “looked very cute.”
Nao had previously appeared in Japan’s “Tokyo Girls Collection” but set her sights on becoming an international model.
Her story is reminiscent of Alexia Rivera’s own journey into the modeling world, when the Long Islander with Down syndrome joined campaigns for Sephora, Kohl’s, and CVS Beauty. She told CBS News at the time, “Girls like myself, just don’t limit yourself. You do it.”
