Grandmother from Kamloops, B.C., takes turn on Cannes catwalk - Action News
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British Columbia

Grandmother from Kamloops, B.C., takes turn on Cannes catwalk

Shes a 44-year-old mother of six children, and a grandmother to two more. Now, Racheal Marie Billy, a member of the Cook's Ferry Indian Band, can also call herself an international fashion model.

Racheal Marie Billy was in the spotlight for Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival

A fashion model in a tan coat poses behind a shiny countertop that shows her reflection.
Racheal Marie Billy poses for a photograph while in Cannes, France, for the Cannes Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival. The Kamloops, B.C., resident is wearing an outfit designed by Stacey Mitchell. (AnneMarie Aase/Submitted )

She's a 44-year-old mother of six children, and a grandmother to two more.

Now, Racheal Marie Billy can also call herself an international fashion model.

Billy added that title to her resum when she graced the catwalk at the Cannes Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival in the world-famous French Riviera resort city.

The festival made its debut forIndigenous Fashion Week earlier this month, and Billy is now back home in Kamloops, B.C., after rubbing shoulders with other Indigenous models and designers from Canada, the United States and other countries.

And here's the kicker: Billy had never modelled before, so to get her start at the centre of the fashion universe was more than a little mind-blowing.

"It was so amazing," she told Sarah Penton, host of CBC's Radio West.

"Every tiny little thing I was so excited for, and to see like the food, the language, the buildings, the people, the whole environment. And then everything that I learned with the training that I did. A lot of stuff was so hard. So many things happened so fast and I was just grateful and thankful for everything."

A smiling model in a tan jacket and black dress walks on a runway, with an audience watching.
Racheal Marie Billy of Kamloops, B.C., models an outfit by designer Stacey Mitchell during a fashion show at the Cannes Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival in Cannes, France. (AnneMarie Aase/Submitted)

Looking for a new adventure

Billy is a member of the Cook's Ferry Indian Band, a small First Nation located in the Spences Bridge area of B.C., at the entrance to the Fraser Canyon, 300 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

Sheworks at a daycare in Kamloops and ended up going to Cannes pretty much by accident. With the first four of her own kids grown and out of the house, she was at a point in her life where she wanted to do something new.

That's when she came across a Facebook post by Kim Coltman, founder and owner of a Kamloops-based modelling and talent agency called Fashion Speaks International.

The post was a call for models interested in doing a photo shoot for the annual Red Dress Campaign, which honours and brings awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

"So I signed up for that one and then I saw another post after that for another model call, so I said that I was interested in that one too, not even realizing that it [was] in Cannes, France."

A model in a tan coat and black dress poses on a staircase covered in red carpet while holding a white cup and saucer.
Racheal Marie Billy of Kamloops, B.C., poses for a photo while at the Cannes Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival in Cannes, France. (AnneMarie Aase/Submitted)

Showcase for Indigenous culture,talent

The Cannes Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival was put together by a group of women entrepreneurs, including Coltman, who was a co-producer.

As part of Indigenous Fashion Week, it was meant to showcase the diverse mix of influential Indigenous models, designers, entertainers, film enthusiasts, hair and makeup artists, fashion bloggers and marketing strategists.

Along with the other models, Billy participated in two days of model training workshops and was in front of the camera for a designer photo shoot.

She was also in the spotlight for a fashion show in which she modelled the latest designs by Stacey Mitchell, who is from Akwesasne, a Mohawk community that straddles the Quebec, Ontario and New York State borders.

Billy said she was nervous before stepping onto the catwalk for the first time. But, as she was getting ready to go out, Mitchell told her to just have fun.

"That made it so much better," Billy said.

"I just got up there and the music was playing and I just walked down and I did my poses and everything.

"It seemed like it happened so fast. I just know that I smiled and I tried to look at everyone in the eyes as much as I could to make them feel special and happy."

A woman in a white tank top and blue shorts stands on a sandy beach, with turquoise water, mountains and a light blue sky in the background.
Racheal Marie Billy enjoys some time on a beach while in Cannes, France, for the Cannes Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival. (Racheal Marie Billy/Submitted)

Scorsesein the seats

Before the show, Billy found out that Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese who was in Cannes for the screening of hisnew movie Killers of the Flower Moon would be in the audience.

"That was nerve wracking, but I was like: 'Nope,'" said Billy about notgetting distracted by trying to see him in the crowd.

"I was just busy having fun," she said with a laugh.

Coltman said Billy was "amazing" from start to finish in Cannes.

"Everybody fell in love with her, and I knew they would because she's just such a gem," she said.

A woman wearing a black and red flowing dress poses in green vegetation while holding a yellow flower.
Racheal Marie Billy of Kamloops, B.C., had an experience of a lifetime at the Cannes Indigenous Arts and Fashion Festival in Cannes, France. (Racheal Marie Billy/Submitted)

'Proud to be there'

Coltman, who is also Indigenous, said having Indigenous culture represented and celebrated in a setting like Cannes was a wonderful experience.

"We couldn't walk through the streets of Cannes without getting stopped and people wanting to take images with our models and our performers, because we had performers there that were in full regalia," she said, adding that some of the pictures might end up in Vogue Magazine.

"It's pretty exciting that we're able to bring our cultures and our traditions to another country and be so well-received."

Billy offered a similar perspective on bringing Indigenous culture to Cannes.

"Just knowing that the area that we were in, and how many people that probably hadn't known much about our culture or what we do or what we look like or anything like that, I felt proud," she said. "I felt proud to be there."

Billy said she could see herself doing more modelling in the future.

"I'm scared to really want it that bad because then if I do, that's all I'm going to think about," she said."I came home to my life my family, my babies, my husband and kids. So I want the best of both worlds in that way."

With files from Radio West