Fashion for the visually impaired

DW (English)

Braille is allowing the blind to experience fashion as a tactile art, where style is felt as much as it is worn. DW meets Kenyan Fashion designer Angela Wanjiku.

Transcript

00:00You are probably thinking that this is a random, cool, everyday wear design.

00:05Well, not quite.

00:07This is Braille on Fabric.

00:09This is what?

00:10Yes, it is the language for the blind on a garment.

00:14But who would think about that?

00:16And why?

00:17My choice to work with the visually impaired is heavily influenced by

00:21my experiences growing up in Thika,

00:24a place that has two of the largest schools for the visually impaired here in Kenya.

00:30I got to see the students and the young children

00:34go through their education, interact with them at music and drama festivals.

00:40So that captured my heart.

00:42And I knew by the time I was doing my project,

00:45I wanted to do something that would allow them to experience fashion

00:49as I experience it, share my passion with them.

00:52Braille is a writing system used by people who are visually impaired.

00:57It consists of patterns of raised dots arranged in cells or grids

01:02that represent letters, numbers or punctuation marks.

01:06In 2019, Angela was ready to establish Hisi Studio.

01:10Let's find out how she succeeded in making her fabrics be felt and convey empathy.

01:15I strive to ensure that the Braille on our clothing is aesthetic and functional

01:20first by its placement.

01:22We have placement on our sleeves and across the chest.

01:27So on the sleeve, it's interesting for anyone who'd like to touch

01:30and on the chest, it gets the attention of a viewer

01:34because we're keen on making sure that we raise awareness about Braille.

01:39So it allows for users and the viewers to have a conversation about that dot.

01:45According to market research findings reported by Vogue Business,

01:49the global adaptive fashion market is expected to surpass $400 billion by 2026.

01:56However, adaptive designs still frequently lack in mainstream fashion.

02:00Why is that?

02:02I acquired visual impairment at the age of 10.

02:05And I think that was a moment where this was a new experience.

02:10I was sighted.

02:12Now it's a world of darkness.

02:14It's a world of a lot of touching.

02:17And I think that has really shaped my experience,

02:19and especially around inclusive fashion, being that I'm a young woman.

02:24Of course, I love to look great.

02:27I love to look trendy.

02:29I love to look stylish.

02:30But I also want to do it in a way that is inclusive to myself

02:34and also to other people.

02:35Inclusive fashion has always been something that I never thought would be possible.

02:41Actually, I've always thought about, you know, fashion is always quite cumbersome,

02:45especially when you're dealing with persons with visual impairment

02:48because you rely a lot on support persons to tell you,

02:53this is this color, it looks like this and all of that.

02:56But I think my interaction with Angela gave me a different perspective

03:01because she brought out the aspect of independence.

03:03I think it's also been a learning even in terms of how the production is done.

03:08Like, how do we make it better?

03:09How do we make it long lasting?

03:12And how do we ensure that all users are actually able to access

03:16the information or the material on the garment?

03:19I really love the fact that even when we are designing the messages on the garments,

03:24it's usually centered around, like, advocacy around

03:28how do we include persons with disabilities?

03:31Like, the last garment I had was written,

03:34the less we see with our eyes, the more we see with our hearts.

03:37Angela and Sandra inscribe Braille that carries meaning onto fabric

03:42for the visually impaired.

03:43But to buy those fabrics, shoppers first need some guidance

03:47in picking out their favorite clothes.

03:50Another key element of our adaptive clothing is our QR code tags

03:55that we add to every garment.

03:57So they have the QR code that contains the description of the garment

04:02from the size, the color, the material and the wash and care instructions.

04:08And on the tag, we have Braille reading scan QR.

04:13So for visually impaired users, they know to use their smartphones,

04:17scan the QR code and piggybacking on the mobile assistive technology feature of TalkBack.

04:23Then they're able to hear all that information by audio.

04:28Angela Wanjiko hopes that her role as a visually impaired clothing designer

04:33will contribute to awareness around inclusivity in the fashion industry.

04:37The impact I hope we achieve with Braille adaptive clothing is

04:43first to increase awareness about Braille and Braille literacy.

04:48Braille is important to have within our social spaces

04:51because it allows visually impaired people to participate more.

04:55I believe fashion designers are doing their best to be inclusive.

04:59It may not be in the regard of disability inclusive fashion,

05:03but we have clothes that are size inclusive, gender inclusive.

05:07You have androgynous fashions coming up,

05:10clothing that's targeted towards gender fluid people and trends.

05:16But for disability inclusive clothing, that's adaptive clothing.

05:19It's fairly new.

05:21There hasn't been a lot of research done in the field,

05:24but I know it's something that fashion designers would want to adapt

05:27with enough knowledge about the field.

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