About 50 aspiring teen models spent four hours learning to strut and swivel down the runway Saturday as officers from the Metropolitan Police Department looked on, preparing for MPD's D.C. Fashion Idol fashion show, a program to keep girls out of gangs by offering something more rewarding to do.
"We're basically telling them to put down their guns and put down their fists and teach them how to be entrepreneurs and young ladies," officer Selena Bynum said at the workshop held at Park View Elementary School in Columbia Heights. Bynum is one of the six officers coordinating the effort. The program includes trips, guest speakers, tutoring, fund-raisers and parties as well as lessons on hair care, makeup art and modeling.
Girl gangs have been on the rise in D.C. and other cities, and incidents of gang violence have become more frequent in recent months, The Washington Post reported. No girls have been killed, but gangs have stabbed, threatened and beaten each other's members.
There will be no gang activity among the models, said Officer Edward Brownlee when they gathered in the elementary school's auditorium for orientation before the workshop began.
"I am not nice when it comes to gang violence, I'm telling you right now. I do not tolerate any gangs, any crews, any of the names that's going around here. If I find out any one of you are running with any of these crews ... I'm going to put you behind bars," he said.
"This is a fashion show. It ain't no place to have a rumble, is it? It's a place for you to shine," he said. "Ladies, this is for you."
He laid down some ground rules: Be on time, don't skip workshops, absolutely no cursing, and remember to wear heels.
"A show of hands: how many people wanna do this?" he said. Every hand shot up.
"That's what I'm talking about."
Sgt. Juanita Eccles told the girls that this is a chance for them to get to know each other. They'll work together to raise funds, put the fashion show together and pick its theme. They'll grow to be like family in the coming months, she said.
"We all gonna be what?" she asked the girls.
"Sisters!" they yelled.
Yvonne Mason, 17, said she looked forward to getting to know the other girls. "Some of them have very sophisticated attitudes. I like 'em."
The girls, ages 12 to 18, come from all parts of D.C. and will meet every Saturday to prepare for the show, tentatively scheduled for August. Some see the free program as a chance to gain experience and exposure in pursuit of modeling careers.
"I love modeling, so every opportunity we have, we want to do it," said Latoya Mack, 17, who came with her friend Angelina Brown, 17.
"It's good experience," Angelina added, "We want to do it any way we can."
Both said they've been modeling for about three years. A handful of the girls had participated in school fashion shows, but many didn't have any experience.
Kiara Lee, 14, said it's an opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream.
"When I was little I always wanted to be a model or a fashion designer, so now's my chance," she said.
After orientation, they headed over to the school's cafeteria to work on their model walks. Brownlee put on some music, and professional models Natasha Bryson and Tiah Short sent the girls strutting across, offering pointers on posture.
They learned basic poses and pivots, and how to walk elegantly with their heads high.
The two will volunteer time every Saturday to teach the girls not only how to be models, but how to have confidence and poise.
"Being a model is not just being beautiful. It's how you carry yourself," Short said. "It's about development - teaching them skills that whether they go into modeling or not, they can use."
Anna Davis watched as her daughter Alexis took to the "runway." She agreed that the program wasn't all about the modeling.
"I want to see [the fashion show] not for who's the cutest or who can walk the best. ... It's got nothing to do with that. I want to see them confident," she said.
She's one of a handful of parents volunteering to publicize and organize the program that she said is a "seed in [the girls'] spirit."
Maria Lopez said the fashion show could open up opportunities for her two daughters, Cortiney and Lea.
"They're gonna get a lot of exposure," she said. "In the end, who knows where it will lead"
