Breastfeeding on an LA runway? Yes, and not for the reason you think

As a mother and a nurse in LA, I’m tired of feeling invisible.

Yet even in Los Angeles — one of the most cosmopolitan cites in the world — I’ve struggled to choose between feeding my baby and being seen and present in my community. 

Motherhood is everywhere in our city and culture.

A mother breastfeeds her child during a protest outside a Primark store in Madrid, Spain, Friday, August 23, 2013. Nursing mothers organized breastfeeding protests at Primark stores across Spain to claim their right to breastfeed in public after a woman was allegedly asked to leave a Primark store on Aug. 12. Getty Images

Yet breastfeeding mothers are still expected to disappear.

That’s wrong.

So we set about to create change.

Now, models are suddenly taking to the LA runway with breastfeeding infants. 

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It sounds like a fashion revolution — and perhaps it is.

Last month, we hosted “Breastfeeding on the Runway” at the historic Leimert Park in South LA. Four mothers walked the runway with their babies and breastfed them as part of the celebration. 

The nearly 100-year-old Vision Theatre in Leimert Park is shown on Saturday, August 22, 2026, in Los Angeles. The theatre will open following a $40 million revitalization project. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

For me, this moment was about much more than fashion.

It was about mothers’ place in our community.

I am a board-certified lactation consultant, a nurse of more than a decade, a nonprofit CEO, a Black woman and a mother of four. I have breastfed all four of my children, including my twins, who recently turned 1. 

I know firsthand that breastfeeding is beautiful, exhausting, empowering, inconvenient, emotional and deeply personal.

It’s also something to celebrate.

Los Angeles, an epicenter of fashion, constantly celebrates women’s bodies. We celebrate pregnancy. We celebrate curves. We celebrate confidence. We celebrate individuality. 

But when a woman uses that same body to feed her baby, suddenly there can be discomfort.

I want to change that.

That is where the idea for Breastfeeding on the Runway came from.

I run a nonprofit that helps mothers overcome barriers to care and access the education, resources and support they need to navigate breastfeeding and postpartum life, particularly in underserved communities.

I know how invisible new mothers can feel. I’ve felt it myself.

So I considered: What would happen if we took breastfeeding out of the places where society expects it to remain hidden and put it somewhere completely unexpected?

The nearly 100-year-old Vision Theatre in Leimert Park is shown on Saturday, August 22, 2026, in Los Angeles. The theater will open following a $40 million revitalization project. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The runway.

Yes.

The response was powerful.

When four mothers breastfed their babies while walking the runway, and they were not asked to cover up or step away.

Instead, they were celebrated. 

Several designers and brands supported the vision, showing that breastfeeding and fashion need not exist in separate worlds.

The event also happened at a meaningful time: Not only is August is National Breastfeeding Month, but our event landed during Black Breastfeeding Week, making the celebration especially significant to me as a Black mother and healthcare professional.

Holding it in LA’s Leimert Park made the moment even more meaningful. 

This was not simply a runway. 

It was a statement about Black motherhood, visibility, culture and community.

And then something happened that made the timing even more striking.

On Sept. 21, London designer Di Petsa presented her “Holy Milk” collection during London Fashion Week.

Leimert Park, a historic hub of Black culture in South Los Angeles, is at the center of a controversy involving Barrio Athletics and allegations of racism. City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks

Our Los Angeles event happened first.

That chronology matters to me — not because I believe Los Angeles has to compete with London, but because it shows that mothers here were already challenging the boundaries of fashion.

We pioneered this particular concept in Los Angeles: a nonprofit-led runway where real mothers actually breastfed their babies while being celebrated.

We simply refuse to accept the idea that breastfeeding mothers should be invisible.

That is the revolution I wanted to start.

Because when a mother walks onto a runway carrying her baby, she is carrying more than a child.

She is carrying a message.

She is saying that motherhood belongs in the room. That breastfeeding need not be hidden. And that women should never have to choose between being mothers and being seen.

Los Angeles gave us the stage.

Four mothers gave us the moment.

And we gave breastfeeding an LA runway.

It was magic.

Breanna Kuimi, is a mom, nurse, certified holistic nutritionist and the founder of Anew Life, a Los Angeles nonprofit providing prenatal, postpartum and lactation support to mothers and families throughout the community.