Last year, Aaron Rose Philip scored her first major high fashion campaign, modelling Moschino’s AW20 collection. Now, the history-making model has also made her debut on the Moschino catwalk, joining the likes of Winnie Harlow and Precious Lee for Jeremy Scott’s SS22 presentation in NYC.

Returning to the New York Fashion Week schedule after its two-year digital hiatus, Moschino staged its kitschy, tea-party-inspired show on a rainy runway in Manhattan’s Bryant Park. In a statement on starring in the show, Philip says: “It’s been a long time coming and I’m just completely grateful to God and to everybody who has ever supported me in any capacity.” 

“I hope this is the start of more and inspires and empowers more global brands at the same level to truly work towards including and normalizing disabled presences and talents in their showcases. Disabled people, models and talents matter so much and we can do so much as long as the steps are taken to accommodate us properly.”

“Black trans girls and women matter and are beautiful and I thank God that we are being realized more and more for the gentle souls that we are.”

Capturing a nostalgic yearning for childhood — or the countless ways in which we’ve regressed over the past two years — the collection itself features dresses and skirt-suits plastered with cartoon lambs, elephants, and bears. 

Elsewhere, Scott taps nursery rhymes for inspiration (see: the “Mary Had a Little Lamb” purse), or takes on infancy even more directly with sets of pastel plastic keys dangling from models’ belts, and a brightly-coloured baby mobile tiara. Gigi Hadid, who opened and closed the show, even stopped to take a sip from a baby bottle clutch.

Earlier this week, Aaron Rose Philip also sat on the front row at Collina Strada’s joyous NYFW show, following up her animorph-inspired AW21 appearance for the label, alongside Tommy Dorfman, Kim Petras, Ella Emhoff, and Hari Nef. 

“My life has changed,” she adds in another post on Moschino’s latest show. Watch a clip shared by Philip below, and find the whole show here.