BUCHAREST — Dozens of models with Down syndrome walked on a runway at the SEEN Anonymous Seamstresses Gala in Bucharest on March 21, 2026, to mark World Down Syndrome Day. The event took place at the Romexpo center.

Designers from across Romania created garments for young people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities at the gala. Georgeta Bucur, president of Down Plus Association Bucharest, said that 50 seamstresses each created a costume for a youngster they had never met. "But the most important thing is that the people gathered together again," Bucur said.

Cristina Bucur, a seamstress and one of the organizers of the event, said in a media interview that she came up with the idea for the fashion show because she has a child with a disability. "They enjoy it enormously because they see that someone looks at them, that someone does something for them," Bucur said.

Antonia Voicu, 19 years old, wore a puffy green netted dress and a crown of red roses at the event. "I'm not nervous at all," Voicu said before her appearance.

Marusika Burlaca wore a pink dress studded with little pearls and had her hair done up for the fashion show.

The theme for World Down Syndrome Day 2026 is combating loneliness. In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 21 as World Down Syndrome Day to celebrate the lives of people with Down syndrome, to promote equal freedoms and opportunities, and to raise awareness.

About 12,000 people in Romania have Down syndrome, according to the Romania Down Syndrome Federation. Over 6 million people worldwide have Down syndrome. In 2022, Romania reported one birth of a child with Down syndrome for every 847 births.