Model Behavior: Talking Fashion, Philly & Philanthropy

By Lisa Ferrandino

Style: People

Model Behavior

Having traded the streets of Wyndmoor for couture and catwalks around the world, suburban beauty Julia Fleming talks fashion, Philly and philanthropy.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it felt like fate," Julia Fleming, 20, says of the moment she was scouted in July 2015. And maybe it was—the Wyndmoor native's parents had a chance encounter with Next Models president and Philly local Ron Gerald at a nearby Starbucks.

With the exchange of a few cell phone pictures and one meeting in New York, this new kid on the Garment District block has conquered some of fashion's most esteemed catwalks— Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Victoria Beckham, Narciso Rodriguez, Vera Wang—in just one season, walking in more than 40 shows last September alone.

"That's when I realized I had really made it and just how impressive [that early success] was," she says.

It's a long way from Walnut Street's Urban Outfitters and Free People, where Fleming shopped during high school. But underneath her new designer wardrobe is a huge heart and a cause that she hopes to turn into a career.

Fleming works with the Progeria Research Foundation, which raises money and awareness for the rare genetic disease that causes children to age rapidly.

"I've raised more than $15,000 in over five years," she says. "I'm so excited to see how modeling can help me as a platform with fundraising."