Proud moment for fashion designer as Afghan refugee who fled the Taliban steps onto the runway at Australian Fashion Week

Afghan refugee Nazdana Bakhtiari steps onto the runway at Australian Fashion Week in Sydney. (Supplied: Lucy Alcorn)

Peeking out onto the runway from backstage at Australian Fashion Week, Australian-Afghan designer Mariam Seddiq could hardly believe what she was seeing.

Modelling one of her looks under the glare of the lights was 24-year-old Nazdana Bakhtiari, who only eight months ago fled from Afghanistan with her mother, escaping the Taliban takeover.