Photos: Seniors Strut During Annual East Harlem Fashion Show

EAST HARLEM, NY — East Harlem senior citizens took to the runway and served some serious looks during an annual neighborhood fashion show Friday.

More than 20 seniors modeled fashions — many of them made by hand — during the Carter Burned Network Annual Fashion Show at the network's Leonard Covello Senior Center on East 109th Street and Second Avenue.

The annual event is held to empower neighborhood seniors and show that "beauty at any age" is possible, Carter Burdern Executive Director William Dionne said. Dionne said the Carter Burden Network has organized its fashion show annually for the past 18 years.

"At the end of the very first show a lady came up to me and said 'no one has looked at me in years and said you look beautiful.' And I thought that we would have to do this every year," Dionne said. "It's a celebration of aging and beauty at every age. You can just see how proud they were as they took to the runway."

Many of this year's models made their outfits from hand while attending sewing classes at the senior center, Dionne said. Many outfits reflected traditional designs from models' cultures and others were modern.

Model Oki Sami Anas, 66, said that walking down the runway and being cheered on by other seniors from the neighborhood was "very emotional" but that she "enjoyed it a lot."

"It shows that at any age — you can do anything," Sami Anas said.

Sami Anas modeled a tradition West African outfit she made while taking sewing classes at the senior center. She said she worked on her outfit for two to three weeks before it was ready to show off.

Retail giant Macy's hired four makeup artists to work the fashion show and volunteers from the company helped the show run smoothly. Each senior who modeled during the show received a gift bag from the store.

Check out more photos of the show below: