This week New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) kicks off and it’ll be Sabby Jey’s second time hitting the catwalk after she made her debut in 2023 as the first five-foot model to walk a show. She did it all, without an agent, aged 30 and above sample size at size 10. Sabby has long been an advocate for greater representation in our media – and this year she’s back again, hitting NZFW once more. Here’s her story of how – and why – she went about earning her place on the catwalk.
If you had told me even five years ago that I would be walking the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week, not once but twice, I would have laughed. The idea that someone like me could belong on that catwalk felt unrealistic. I am five feet tall, almost 32 years old, petite and curvy. I have no modelling agency representation and no fashion industry connections or experience.
Fashion Week always seemed like it was made for the tall, the angular, and the impossibly cool. It felt like a space reserved for upper-class women who know how to layer a trench coat over something minimal and look like they were born on a runway. It never felt like a place where I belonged.
And yet, in 2023, I became the first 5-foot-tall adult woman to walk at NZFW. This year, I am walking again.
I have been modelling on and off for over a decade. I was the face of Maybelline in 2019, done commercials with Burger Fuel and Tui and I have appeared in campaigns across China, India, Australia, and New Zealand. But none of that made much of a difference when it came to getting signed. Despite gettings meetings with Red 11 once, Unique models twice, and applying to every other major agency every few years, everyone had the same feedback – we just don’t think we can get you work.
I did not fit the industry’s idea of what a model should be. I was not tall enough, not sample-size, and not within the right networks.
Eventually, I stopped waiting for permission.
In 2023, I created my comp card and pitch showcasing my decade of commercial work. Then I did something that many aspiring models might not think to do. I registered as a delegate to access to the content list, then I emailed every single designer showing at New Zealand Fashion Week. It was late. Most shows had already been cast. But I sent a professional pitch anyway. I offered not just to walk in their show, but to create high-quality behind-the-scenes content across my platforms. At the time, I had 25,000 Instagram followers and 30,000 on TikTok. I knew I could bring something more than just a walk and used whatever leverage I had.
Bantu, a beautiful and inclusive Australian brand, gave me the opportunity. I was excited, but also very aware that I had never walked a runway before.
So, I trained. I reached out to dozens of models from 62 Management, Unique, and Red11. I asked for help and advice. Some of them even trained me or offered in-depth advice like Ashley McInroe and Pascal Davies from Unique models. Others sent me voice notes and advice. I made a playlist of catwalk tutorials and supermodel walks on YouTube like Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bündchen, and Coco Rocha . I practised in my hallway and filmed myself every day. I watched the footage, adjusted my posture, and kept refining my walk sending it to models for feedback. I was determined to show up not as a novelty (influencer or reality star), but as a real model, with respect for the craft.
I also prepared physically and mentally. I booked a skin treatment, refreshed my hair, got my nails done, and had lashes applied that would still work under show makeup. I exercised consistently and focused on feeling good in my body. I showed up to fittings early and offered to capture and share content for the designer. I wanted to demonstrate that I could add value in multiple ways.
On the day of the show, I walked alongside some of the top models in the country. Isabel Moore (Unique), who is now the subject of a documentary about body standards in the fashion industry, and author/model Kaarina Parker (Unique) helped me practise backstage. Everyone was welcoming and encouraging. I felt like I had earned the space I was in. To not only walk, but to get paid when you’ve been told you’re entire life that this isn’t for you – it was ethereal.
Now, two years later, I am 32 and I am walking again. This time it is for Adrion Atelier.
I followed the same strategy this year, but this time around, I had a massive glow-up, losing 17kgs and gaining 20 times the confidence. I put together a refreshed compcard with my 2023 work and took fresh new digis. I dm’d and emailed every brand, and I was cast.
This time around, I have been training with Miss World New Zealand 2025, Sammi Anni, and Pascal Davies (Unique). We practise together, review our footage, and keep pushing each other to improve. I am still not the standard model by industry norms. But I have carved out my own space with consistency, vision, and strategy.
Walking at New Zealand Fashion Week has taught me that the industry may not always open the door. Sometimes, you have to build your own. I may be five feet tall and 32 years old, but I am walking like I have always belonged here. I have earned my place.
