Keme Rynders, of Hot Springs, a Royal International Miss Ozark Country Preteen, modeled in New York's Fashion Week on Feb. 12 at Gotham Hall.
"I was really excited to go. It was a really fun trip, and I just got to meet so many cool people. I hope this brings out so many more experiences for me as a model," Rynders said.
Rynders, who has wanted to model since she was a child, said she felt it would be a good experience for her.
She said she was 9 years old when she realized she wanted to model, noting how she would play dress-up in her room.
"I had this big drawer full of clothes and stuff that I would model in. ... It was really fun. I grew up loving fashion and everything about it," Rynders said.
"I think fashion is important because you want to dress up nice and make yourself look presentable."
Rynders has done pageants and modeling in the past, which allowed her to land acting gigs.
"I think that's why they chose me, and I think they'll shoot me in the future because I've been really good with them," she said.
"Modeling in the New York's Fashion Week has been a really good experience, and I hope they choose me for future things," she said.
Modeling is important to her because she gets to show off whatever clothes or items the designer wants the public to see, Rynders said.
"You can model different things and show off different brands to get more money for other brands," she said.
"I think it's really cool to model different clothes and see what you like, see what you want to try out and stuff," Rynders said.
"I can get that out there for them and anyone to see. I want to inspire other people to model in case they want to grow up and be models," she said. "I can model for them and show them how to do it."
Shannon "Dee" Rynders, Keme Rynders' mother, said the process of getting her daughter in fashion week was "cut and dry," noting they submitted a headshot to designer Sherri Dvorkin Carter who then decided if she was good enough to walk.
"Sherri is the designer for Eye Candy Couture. She is the one who organized the event for fashion week," Shannon Rynders said, noting her daughter walked for her and Avadora Mimouni.
"It was really surreal because I never pictured she'd ever do something like this. I know she loves it," she said. "It's one thing to have a dream to walk in Fashion Week, but to actually go, it was pretty awesome."
"I was just sitting there watching her walk back as one of the people watching, and she looked like she'd been doing it her whole life. I didn't see her look nervous. ... I was rather impressed how well she did."