Tilted towards the sun

For nearly three years, high schooler Jayda Lloyd has helped bring designer and classmate Aoife Swandel’s creations to life on the runway. This year, the duo has reached a new achievement, with Lloyd having the opportunity to model Swandel’s award-winning Equinox Dress.

Swandel and the dress won in the fashion category for Grade 12 at The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards 2026, the longest-running and most prestigious awards for young artists in the United States - with hundreds of thousands of entries over 29 categories.

“It was really a privilege,” said Lloyd. “I’ve been working with Swandel for about three years now on various different projects. I always knew that she was very talented, and I’m very grateful that she chose me so many times to model for her.”

The two first met in grade nine after Lloyd noticed Swandel was designing pieces for local fashion shows in Ottawa. Interested in collaborating, Lloyd reached out, and the partnership quickly grew from a single fashion show into a long-term creative friendship.

The award-winning Equinox Dress became their most ambitious and well-known project, with CTV covering the dress, displaying Lloyd modeling the dress across national news.

Lloyd said the dress took nearly six months to complete and required repeated fittings and adjustments. Because of the dress’s intricate construction, sizing issues sometimes created challenges during the design process.

“The metal holes would often poke through, and I ended up with a bunch of stab marks at certain times,” said Lloyd. “There were ups and downs, but at the end of the day, it turned out perfectly.”

The dress demanded patience from both the designer and model.

“It was definitely stressful at times because I knew how much it meant for her,” said Lloyd, who wanted to ensure everything went smoothly when the dress was finally presented for the award.

“It was the first time I tried on the dress before we presented it,” said Lloyd, who shared that her favourite memory was when all the separate components of the dress were worn for the first time. “Seeing it all come together was so exciting.”

Lloyd modeled the dress for both runway presentations and professional photo shoots. Lloyd explained that the two settings required different approaches.

“When you’re doing runway, you don’t have time to process. It’s a bunch of adrenaline,” said Lloyd. “With photo shoots, it’s more structured. We’re having fun, taking direction from the photographer and really working through the vision.”

While Lloyd lives and goes to school in Ottawa, she visits Kanesatake multiple times a month and stays for summer break, visiting her mother Denise David, a caretaker Council chief.

For David, the impact of the dress was immediately apparent long before it became award-winning.

“I knew it was award-winning when she first walked out on her school stage,the designer did a fantastic job,” said David.

“My heart dropped when I first saw her on the stage at school,” said David, praising her daughter’s professionalism and commitment to modeling.

“When she walks, she’s focused and showing the best of what she’s wearing,” said David. “To show off what they put on her is amazing.”

Over the years, David has watched her daughter model a variety of designs at school and community events. While she supports Lloyd’s growing resume as a model, David said she encourages her daughter to continue to build her own portfolio and protect her interests as a young model.

Lloyd is excited to return to Kanesatake for the summer, and she’s received strong support from family and community members. She graduates high school this summer and hopes to continue modeling when opportunities arise.

The partnership between Lloyd and Swandel ended due to Swandel moving to Toronto to continue studying fashion, but Lloyd said she welcomes any future collaborations.

“I’m really grateful that she has so much trust in me to model her vision,” said Lloyd. “Hopefully, I can keep helping people bring their visions to life.”

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Fern Marmont, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter