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In July this year, entrepreneur Maria O’Sullivan-Abeyrat launched Adaptista, an online marketplace for adaptive and participatory fashion brands. The digitally accessible platform breaks new ground in an industry focused on clothing for the disabled, mobility-impaired and critically ill – a market predicted to grow to $400 billion by 2026. With one in five people in the UK reported to have a disability, and the fact that anyone can become disabled at any time, labels such as Nike, Tommy Hilfiger and Colin Strada have already shifted their creative strategies to make adaptive fashion a core tenet of their DNA.
The idea for Adaptista came to Maria, who has ankylosing spondylitis, when she was looking for a wedding dress that fit comfortably and stylishly. Finding nearly 4,500 adaptive brands during her research, the genius of her platform is two-fold: Adaptista not only removes the many physical barriers disabled consumers face when shopping, but also fosters a community of disabled designers, directly in the fashion industry.
A week after the launch, Gucci announced that they were a certified participant in the Disability Equality Index – the first, and only, luxury fashion house to do so. A score of 80 out of 100 ranks the brand among the best in terms of disability equality and inclusion. This is not surprising. Gucci has long demonstrated its commitment to diversity and inclusion by working as a strategic partner with accessibility consulting firm Tilting the Lens. “There’s a broader understanding of thinking about people, places, brand promotions,” confirmed the company’s CEO Sinead Burke, who sits on Gucci’s global equity board. Supporting the team and moving the dial to think about disability and inclusion in a way that aligns with Gucci’s values and brand.
Photo by Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images for Gucci
Such a series of positive headlines is a relief; Optimistically, perhaps the global luxury fashion industry is finally extricating itself from its troubling history of diversity and inclusion. But as Sinead reminds us, “To change a system as big as the luxury fashion industry, system change is gradual, not seismic.
Adaptive fashion is not a new epidemic—nor should it be for the disabled community. Maria says, “Fitted clothing is made for specific needs. Mother’s clothing is suitable. Running shoes are adaptive.” The term ‘inclusive’ or ‘casually adaptable’ refers to clothing that can be worn by anyone and “breaks this idea of ableism and disability fashion,” she says.
These terms should be used with caution in fashion as clinical labels and not to generalize disability into a single group. More broadly, such ‘labels’ can slip into society’s (dangerously wrong) collective fantasy of predicting and ranking fashion. Adaptable fashion is based on the needs of people with disabilities, but the innovation it inspires benefits everyone. Its vectors are generative, not constrictive; Not only in celebration, but also a source of creativity.
“What if we changed the narrative of disability from one of inclusion and exclusion to one of curiosity about human difference? To use fashion to explore and understand the human experiences of many living beings on this planet. And most of all, to stop seeing disability as something unusual, but something to be proud of and full of knowledge and community.
Choosing the lens wisely so as not to lose sight of the people involved in an accessibility strategy puts the three pillars of education, advocacy and design into this broader perspective. “It’s about people feeling a sense of belonging and acceptance in the world,” says Sinead. It’s not the only way through brands and business, but it shapes how other people see us and eventually how we see ourselves.
For example, tilting the lens doesn’t fix the product alone, but emphasize grassroots and grassroots approach. “Such a focus puts the person with a disability in the role of client rather than partner and risks seeing that person only at financial expense,” says Sinead. Immediately we start creating this evaluation system of who is going to be a part of our world and who is not.
A similar human perspective has always been that of New York-based fashion label Colina Strada: “Our DNA is now hard-wired into the ability to look inward, even when we’re loud and expressive.” Many of the label’s clothes are inclusive, but in a way that honors the lived human experience and ways of self-expression. Mechanisms are often fluid and seamless, making them accessible to wheelchair users, and feature convenient access points and connections for multiple components.
Ellen Falls, a designer, academic and consultant in the field of design and disability, echoes this sentiment: “Adaptive fashion is not about function, it’s about respect. How people look affects how they feel, both physically and mentally.
Foles first gained attention for her collection at the Royal College of Art, for which she designed clothes for her grandfather, who had mobility problems, and “gave her the freedom to live her life instead of restrictions.” She has since worked with the New York-based Open Style Lab and now runs the first inclusive fashion mini-course in the USA at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
“Change needs to happen at all levels of the industry,” Fowle says—and that starts with education. Ideally, similar programs would be mandatory in fashion studies around the world, so that inclusive ideas would become reflective, second nature to young designers. And fashion design programs must be crucially accessible to the disabled community. To this end, Adaptista is sponsoring disabled students to complete their Higher Diploma in Fashion Design.
The reality is that people are at best temporarily disabled. Anyone can have a disability. […] We must stop thinking of adaptive fashion as a siled class; Rather, it is a fertile field of creativity that benefits us all.”
As Sinead explains, “Our hallmark of success is that the creative director has a disability themselves – whether that’s temporary, invisible or visible. We need to invest our resources in developing a talent pipeline where disability is part of the design fabric.
In this age of critical cultural undoing, where the great eye of social media is quick to punish even the wrong move, vulnerability—admitting that we don’t know everything—can be scary. But what if we changed the narrative of disability from one of inclusion and marginalization to an enthusiasm for human difference? To use fashion to explore and understand the human experiences of many living beings on this planet. And, most importantly, to stop seeing disability as something unusual but something to be proud of and knowledgeable about and full of community.
To be more inclusive, designers don’t need to reinvent the wheel all at once. Start small. Do you really need labels that stick? Can a seam be flat instead of stitched? Can you offer additional fastening options such as magnetic buttons or zippers with long pulls? Can shoes be sold individually instead of in pairs?
Image courtesy of Adaptista
Designers are the first to learn the intricate details of their garments, so a simple starting point is to print general product information on web pages, from hem length and button width to where printing starts and ends. Over-communicating: Providing such details up front allows consumers to decide for themselves whether a garment fits or not.
The reality is that people are at best temporarily disabled. Anyone can have a disability. And when people live longer, mobility, physical and mental disorders are possible events. We must stop thinking of adaptive fashion as a siled class; Rather, it is a fertile field of creativity that benefits us all.
Image via Colina Strada. Photo by Charlie Engman
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