Americus native to walk the runway at Los Angeles Fashion Week

AMERICAS, Ga. (WALB) – A 21-year-old from Americus has been selected to attend Los Angeles Fashion Week. An opportunity that only presents itself five times a year.

Colby Felton walked down the street from Americus growing up and now he’s taking his talents to the runway.

“My inspiration since I was eight and saw The Devil Wears Prada, I swear, my eight-year-old self gained (confidence) in the third grade. She would always do dinnertime fashion shows with pots and pans and plastic bags while my mom cooked or whoever was in the kitchen from six to eight,” Colby said.

Colby is the only girl selected to attend LA Fashion Week without a contracted agent. She has a stage name and goes by ColbannaLaRue.

“When she went to school, she was herself, but she was always teased because of the clothes she wore, she was different. The teachers, the faculty and the kids teased her because of her body shape and the clothes she wore,” said Diya Felton, Colby’s mother.

Diya said she is proud of Colby and has seen passion firsthand since she was a child.

“It really makes me feel very happy. I have always supported what Colby wants to do. She’s a freelancer, one of those magical girls who can do anything and everything. She’s super smart and I’ve always been behind her 100%,” Felton said.

Colby said she also had to overcome a mental disability to get to where she is today.

Colby said that he loves to demonstrate. He knew that he would make it after submitting his work several times. Before being selected, she did a lot of freelance work and hopes to be hired by major agencies.

Colby was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in seventh grade and had to endure some hardships along the way.

“Extreme bullying, within the school system. I was bullied from seventh grade until graduation and it was severe. It created like a personality split and at that moment I felt very alone,” she said.

Colby has coped with her disorder in part by creating a stage name.

“Create as an alter ego, and ColbannaLaRue counters Colby, which I call Colby as ‘Colby the Creator.’ So ColbannaLaRue is like Colby’s ego. So when Colby feels small or insecure or something like that, ColbannaLaRue is there to pick her up,” Felton said.

As a minority youth from a small town, it is important to know your value and not give up. By the end of fashion week, Colby hopes to sign with top agencies like IMG and Los Angeles-based modeling agency Elite.

“Coming from a small town as a black girl, you’re going to have to work twice, four times as hard to get where you need to go. No matter what people say, keep those dreams going,” Diya said.

One piece of advice that Colby wants other young girls to know is to be consistent and try new things, as you never know who is watching.

And if you’d like to help support Felton so she can travel elsewhere on her modeling journey, you can visit her GoFundMe page here.

Source: news.google.com

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