Isis King, the first transgender contestant to appear as a finalist on the popular reality show "America's Next Top Model," has signed a contract to participate in Baltimore Fashion Week, the event's director confirmed Friday afternoon.
King will attend the event as a front row guest on Aug. 19, and will model clothing for several designers the following two nights.
"Having Isis in Baltimore Fashion Week within our fourth production year is the epitome of success," said Sharan Nixon, whose company, Butterfly Productions, runs the four-day event that highlights designers and models during a series of runway fashion shows. "To have her sitting on our front row on Friday and then actually walking for a few select designers on Saturday and Sunday is absolutely fabulous."
Nixon has been a fan of the model since first seeing her as a contestant on "America's Next Top Model," CW's popular modeling competition reality show hosted by Tyra Banks.
"I just thought that with her position and her being a local product, she just had to be in fashion week," Nixon said. "And she's fabulous."
King wanted to participate in Baltimore Fashion Week because of her love of fashion design, according to her manager Delano.
"She's from Maryland," Delano explained. "We thought it would be a great idea to see what the designers had to offer and be a part of a really great event."
Since the show, King — who now lives in New York City — has been involved in designing her own line of clothing, she appeared in the independent film "Bella Maddo" and in Off-Broadway plays. She's also done freelance modeling work.
Rumors on numerous Internet posts and YouTube videos have King appearing on the upcoming season of "America's Next Top Model," which will feature past contestants competing. When asked about King's rumored involvement in the upcoming season of the show, Delano had no comment.
Delano did say that King was unavailable to comment because she was doing a freelance modeling job.
"She's really excited about Baltimore Fashion Week," Delano said. "She's always interested in seeing what designers have to offer. She wants to encourage up-and-coming designers to be successful in what they do."
King's participation in this year's event is the latest effort by the event's organizers to elevate its image.
In March, Ted Williams, the homeless Ohio man who became an overnight sensation earlier this year for his voice-over work, was unveiled as the announcer for Baltimore Fashion Week.
In January, Nixon announced that she was moving the event back to Baltimore after holding it at the Sheraton Baltimore North in Towson. The new site — a parcel of land near the Morgan Stanley building in Harbor East — will provide Nixon with the type of location she envisioned when she first launched the event, she said. She also announced that in addition to moving to the Harbor East location, the event would feature a 16,000-square-foot tent similar to the ones used at the famed Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.