In July this year, entrepreneur Maria O’Sullivan-Abeyratne launched Adaptista, an online marketplace for adaptive and inclusive fashion brands. The accessible digital platform breaks new ground in an industry focused on clothing designed for the disabled, mobility impaired and chronically ill – a market projected to grow to almost $400 billion by 2026. With one in five people in the UK reporting a disability and the reality that anyone can become disabled at any time, labels such as Nike, Tommy Hilfiger and Collina Strada have already shifted the layers of their creative strategy to make fashion adaptive a key tenet of their brand DNA.
The idea for Adaptista came to Maria, who suffered from ankylosing spondylitis, while looking for a wedding dress that would fit her comfortably and stylishly. Discovering nearly 4,500 adaptive brands during its research, the genius of its platform is two-fold: not only does Adaptista eliminate many of the physical barriers disabled consumers face when shopping, but it also nurtures a community of able-bodied designers limited, involving them directly in the fashion industry.
A week after the launch of the platform, Gucci announced that they had become 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 as one of the best places to work in terms of disability equality and inclusion. This is no surprise. Gucci has long demonstrated an authentic commitment to diversity and inclusion, working with accessibility consulting firm Tilting the Lens as a strategic partner. The firm’s CEO Sinéad Burke, who also sits on Gucci’s Global Equity Board, asserts that “there is a broad responsibility in thinking about people, places, product promotions; supporting the team and moving the dial to think about disability and inclusion in a way that is consistent with Gucci’s values and brand.”
Photo by Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images for Gucci
Such back-to-back positive headlines can bring a sigh of relief; a glimmer of hope that perhaps the global luxury fashion industry is finally untangling itself from its rocky history with diversity and inclusion. But as Sinéad reminds us, “to transform a system as large as the luxury fashion industry, systemic change is gradual, not seismic.”
Adaptive fashion is not a great new drug – nor should it be given to the Disability community. Maria points out that “adaptive clothes are made for specific needs. Maternity wear is adaptive. Running shoes are adaptive.” Its close term ‘inclusive’ or ‘accidentally fit’ refers to clothes that can be worn by anyone and “break down this idea of able-bodied versus disabled fashion,” she explains.
These terms should be used within fashion with care, to avoid applying them as clinical labels and generalizing disability to a single group. More broadly, such “labels” can slip into fashion in society’s (dangerously misguided) collective fantasy of predictability and standardization. Even if adaptive fashion is rooted in the needs of People with Disabilities, the innovation it fosters is beneficial for everyone. Its vectors are generative, not coercive; a source of creativity, not limited to compatibility.
“What if we shifted the narrative of disability from one of inclusion versus exclusion to one of curiosity about human diversity? To use fashion to explore and understand the many human experiences lived on this planet. And, most importantly, to stop seeing disability as abnormal, but as something that is full of pride, nuance, expertise and community.”
Lens’ title intelligently positions its three core pillars of education, advocacy and design within this broad view so as not to lose sight of the people involved in the accessibility strategy. “It’s about people feeling a sense of belonging and acceptance in the world,” says Sinéad. “Not that the only way is through brands and commercialism, but it shapes how other people see us and, over time, how we see ourselves.”
For example, Tilting the Lens doesn’t just fixate on the product, but emphasizes a grassroots and grassroots approach. “Such a focus will only place the disabled person in the role of customer, rather than colleague, and risks viewing that person only in terms of spending power,” says Sinéad. “We immediately start creating this rating system of who can be part of our world and who can’t.”
A similar human respect has always been at the heart of New York-based fashion label Collina Strada, “whose brand DNA is now firmly cemented in the ability to see within, even when we’re loud and expressive from the outside”. Much of the label’s clothing is inclusive, but in a way that celebrates the diversity of our lived human experience and modes of self-expression. Silhouettes are often fluid and smooth, making them wheelchair accessible and have access points and fastenings that are suitable for a variety of bodies.
Ellen Fowles, a designer, academic and consultant in the design and disability sector, echoes this sentiment: “Adaptive fashion is not a matter of style over function, but rather a consideration of dignity. How people look completely affects how they feel, both physically and mentally.”
Fowles first gained attention with her graduate collection from the Royal College of Art, for which she designed clothes for and with her grandmother, who is disabled, that “gave her the freedom to live by her wishes, and not against restrictions. of her medical clothing.” She has since worked with the New York-based organization Open Style Lab and will now lead the first comprehensive fashion course in the US at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
“Change needs to happen at all levels of the industry,” says Fowles—and that starts with education. Ideally, similar programs will become mandatory in fashion studies around the globe so that inclusion considerations become reflexive, second nature to young designers. And crucially, fashion design programs must be accessible to the disabled community. To this end, Adaptista is sponsoring students with disabilities to complete their higher degrees in fashion design.
“The reality is that people are, at most, temporarily disabled. Anyone can become disabled. […] We need to stop thinking about adaptive fashion as an isolated segment; rather, it is a fertile realm of innovation that will benefit us all.”
As Sinéad points out, “our label of success should be that the creative director himself is disabled – be it temporarily, invisibly or visibly disabled. We need to invest our resources in developing a talent pipeline where disability becomes part of the fabric of the design room.”
In this complicated age of cancellation culture, where the Big Eye of Social Media is quick to punish even the smallest mistakes, vulnerability – admitting we don’t know everything – can be scary. But what if we shift the narrative of disability from one of inclusion versus exclusion to one of curiosity about human diversity? To use fashion to explore and understand the many human experiences lived on this planet. And, most importantly, to stop seeing disability as abnormal, but as something that is full of pride, nuance, expertise and community.
To be more inclusive, designers don’t have to reinvent the wheel in one fell swoop. Start small. Do you really need labels that stick out? Can the seams be flattened and not blunted? Can you offer more fastening options like magnetic buttons or chains with longer levers? Can the shoes be sold individually and not in pairs?
Image via Customiety and courtesy of Adaptista
Designers are the first to know the intricate details of their garments, so a simple starting point is to publish comprehensive product information on websites, from hem length and button width to where a print begins and ends. . Overcommunicating: providing such details in advance empowers consumers to decide for themselves whether a piece of clothing will fit.
The reality is that people are, at most, temporarily disabled. Anyone can become disabled. And with people living longer, mobility, physical and mental impairments are a possible eventuality. We need to stop thinking about adaptive fashion as an isolated segment; rather, it is a fertile realm of innovation that will benefit us all.
Image by Collina Strada. Photo by Charlie Engman
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