Winnipeg fashion designer Hayden DeJong arrived at New York Fashion Week

A young fashion designer from Winnipeg had no idea she was approaching one of fashion's biggest milestones in her career.

“It's just surreal — the main thing,” designer Hayden DeJong told CTV Morning Live Winnipeg.

“I was hoping these things would happen. I didn't expect them to happen so quickly.”

DeJong works as an assistant to Adam Small, a Winnipeg designer DeJong had a crush on before their collaboration.

She got the chance to help Tiny when she showed her work at New York Fashion Week.

In addition to helping put the show together, DeJong's creation for a school project even made it into the lineup.

“I helped with the final scene, which was a great honor. We used a coat I made for my last collection that I showed in my thesis project. We did a lot of new things.”

Dejong, who is self-taught, says the brand combines new pieces and techniques with archival looks.

According to him, the trip to New York was a great motivation. He plans to bring this inspiration home to Prairie and use it in future collections.

In turn, she hopes their appearance on the New York Fashion Week catwalk will help put Winnipeg on the fashion map.

“I think it's amazing when people hear where we're from and the work we're doing,” he said.

“There are obviously a lot of amazing designers in Winnipeg already, so to be able to work with them and represent Winnipeg like this is a huge accomplishment.”

– With files from CTV's Rachel Lagasse