Ten Blind and Visually Impaired Models Take the Runway in Oak Brook, Raising Over $40,000
Ten models who are blind or visually impaired walked a runway at the CD Peacock Mansion in Oak Brook, Illinois, on August 6, raising more than $40,000 for the Beautiful Lives Project, a nonprofit that creates opportunities for people with disabilities across sports, fashion and the arts (WWD).
This was the organisation's second annual fashion show. Bryce Weiler, who cofounded the Beautiful Lives Project in 2017, has built the nonprofit around a straightforward idea: people with disabilities deserve to participate in cultural events — on the field, on the stage, and on the runway.
The models wore clothing outfitted from Nordstrom, the Seattle-based department-store chain. CD Peacock, an Illinois luxury and jewelry retailer, served as the show's partner and provided the jewelry worn on the runway. The event was co-organised and emceed by Aria Holtzman alongside her father, Steven Holtzman, who is vice chairman of CD Peacock (WWD).
The Chicago Tribune and NBC Chicago both covered the event when it first took place, in August 2025 (Chicago Tribune; NBC Chicago). The Tribune noted that 10 visually impaired models walked in the show at the CD Peacock Mansion, and NBC Chicago produced a video segment on the runway.
For the models, the runway is not the typical casting-call path into fashion. The Beautiful Lives Project recruits participants with disabilities who might otherwise never see a catwalk — and gives them the staging, the styling and the audience. Weiler's organisation runs programs across the United States, pairing participants with venues and partners willing to open their doors.
The dollar figure — $40,000-plus — goes toward expanding those programs. That covers the fashion show itself and the nonprofit's broader work in sports and the arts, where the model is the same: bring people with disabilities into spaces that have historically excluded them, and let them perform.
CD Peacock's involvement is commercial as well as philanthropic. The retailer, one of the oldest jewelry businesses in Illinois, hosted the show at its Oak Brook mansion and supplied the accessories. Nordstrom, a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, provided the clothing. Both brands received visibility at an event covered by local and national press — but the models were the draw.
What gives the night its weight is the simplicity of the setup. No avant-garde staging, no celebrity creative director. Just ten people, a mansion, a department store's worth of clothing, and a runway — built so that people who cannot see the clothes they are wearing can still wear them in front of a crowd.
