Heather Alexis Heads to NYFW for a CFDA Calendar Runway Show

For Heather Alexis, fashion and filmmaking have always shared something important: the ability to tell a story without following the expected script. This September, the New York-based model and experimental filmmaker will add an exciting new chapter to her own story when she walks in a CFDA Calendar show during New York Fashion Week on September 10, 2026, plus other runway shows all week  long.

The upcoming appearance marks another significant step for Heather, whose modeling career began with a spontaneous decision to attend an audition. That single opportunity led to her becoming a house model for The Bureau Fashion Week and eventually to runways across New York and Los Angeles.

Her growing portfolio now includes appearances with The Bureau NYFW and LAFW, House of Sofia Couture, Lé Coiffeur, LongLiveModels, Unique Fashion Foundation, and other independent productions. She has modeled collections from designers including Giannina Azar, Ipek Couture, Minerva Paris, Keona Evolve and many more.

But Heather brings an unusual creative perspective to the runway.

Away from fashion week, she is an award-winning filmmaker, scholar and post-production editor whose work explores storytelling, psychology and representation. Her academic and filmmaking career has been shaped by an interest in how mental health and chronic illness are portrayed through art and media... subjects she hopes to continue advocating for as her visibility within fashion grows.

"My purpose is to create and use my art as a voice for what I am passionate about," Heather says. For her, whether the medium is film or fashion, the objective remains storytelling.

That intersection is becoming increasingly central to the career she hopes to build. Heather wants to pursue editorial campaigns and experimental fashion projects while advocating for greater representation of people living with chronic illnesses and mental health challenges.

Now, the September 10 CFDA Calendar appearance places her on another important New York runway and brings a childhood fascination with fashion increasingly full circle. Growing up watching Project Runway, sketching clothing and staging amateur runway shows for her mother, Alexis once experienced fashion primarily through a screen. Today, she is becoming part of the industry she watched.

And she isn't interested in limiting herself to one creative path.

Film, fashion, content creation and whatever artistic "side quest" comes next are all part of the plan.

For Heather Alexis, NYFW is not the destination but it's another door opening.