Daniel Penny made his debut as a model Saturday night — as he walked a New York runway in a charity fashion show dressed in a kilt.
The former Marine, who gained fame when he fatally choked a crazed homeless man who was threatening a packed subway car in 2023, smiled broadly as he stepped out in the “Dressed to Kilt” fashion event on the Upper East Side.
The song “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler played as Penny drew a round of applause from the crowd.
“The next gentleman, the next model, can actually trace mention of his family back to the 12th century in Scotland. Having said that, he’s a very proud New Yorker and a very, very proud Marine,” charity co-founder Geoffrey Scott Carrol said in introduction by way of Penny.
“Far from being a villain, this man was a hero to all the inhabitants of that subway car,” the announcer extolled.
“[Penny] leaped into action as a passenger on a subway car when a potential assailant started threatening women, children and elderly people with a knife,” Carrol said.
Jordan Neely, who shouted threats to passengers before Penny restrained him with a headlock, was not armed with any weapon during the infamous altercation, according to authorities.
Penny’s style was meant to embody the event’s theme “Country Couture – From the Scottish Highlands to Fifth Avenue.”
Previous notable models include first daughter Ivanka Trump, comedian Mike Meyers, and actor Alan Cummings.
“Dress to Kilt” was co-founded by late “James Bond” actor Sean Connery and Dr. Geoffrey Scott Carroll in 2003 and is now the most prestigious and largest Scottish fashion show in the world, according to the Scottish Banner.
The charity donates significant sums to Veteran’s causes and boasts a partnership with the Navy Seal Foundation, which focuses on helping families of SEALs.
The venue was the Church of the Heavenly Rest, which was chosen by organizers in part to its history as a post-Civil War parish that tended to veterans in need, according to the charity’s website.
Daniel Penny was found by a jury of New Yorkers to be not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the caught-on-camera fatal encounter that became a political lightning rod.
Penny declined to comment to The Post.
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