Meet the 12-Year-Old Fashion Designer Who Debuted Her Clothes for All Sizes at NYFW After Being Bullied For Her Weight

They say through adversity you find your strength.

This cannot be more true for 12-year-old designer Egypt Ufele.

She is the founder of Bully Chasers charity and plus-size fashion line Chubiiline.

Her passion for fashion and her determination to help others came after she herself was bullied at school.

Ufele, who goes by “Ify,” told Today that she was repeatedly picked on for her size at her grade school in Queens, New York.

“I was bullied and they called me all kinds of names,” she says. “One time I got stabbed with a pencil.”

Now Ufele has become the only child designer to dress curvy models at New York Fashion Week.

According to her website, Ufele’s design are about “bringing Africa to America, one design at a time.”

The Nigerian American was diagnosed with a critical asthmatic health condition.

The medication caused weight gain as well as hospital stays.

After her heath got better, Ify returned to school but was bullied by some of her school mates. They constantly teased her because of her weight.

But Ify says she’s proud of her journey and how she became to accept and love herself.

“I turned negative attention into positive attention,” she says proudly.

Ify vowed to make difference not just for herself but for other kids so they can feel confident in their skin.

In January 2015, she decided to launch her charity foundation with the help of her mom.

Not only is she a talented designer, Ify is also a United Nations (UN) junior ambassador of peace.

Congratulations Ify!