Watch: The South African designer empowering the visually impaired

euronews (in English)

Meet the woman who designs clothing with inclusion in mind.

Transcript

00:00My clothing range helps visually impaired individuals become more self-reliant when

00:07it comes to their daily choices of clothing.

00:10They walk into a store, the clothes speak to them.

00:13They purchase it, they go home, their clothes still speak to them.

00:17They can touch and feel and connect with their clothing.

00:20That is so important because it's something that sighted people take for granted.

00:27How about explaining the colour blue to someone that hasn't even seen it?

00:31Fashion trends change, but they don't know that.

00:34I am Belini Naidoo Engelbrecht, a fashion designer specialising in braille clothing.

00:41I was always creative, always using my hands, creating things, drawing, sketching.

00:59At a very young age I was diagnosed with dyslexia and I had a younger brother that was mentally

01:06challenged.

01:08So both of us went for remedial attention.

01:12I was exposed to different types of children like myself with other disabilities and I

01:19grew up around them.

01:20I found a place in my heart to make them feel loved and inclusive.

01:26The flair of fashion was always there.

01:27I always wanted to wear what was trending, what was new.

01:32I came up with the idea of designing a braille identification system.

01:39The system identifies the colour of the garment, the size, the wash care label and how to style

01:45the garment.

01:46It was very difficult in the beginning.

01:50It was nothing of its kind.

01:52So there was a lot of prototypes back and forth and research.

02:01My first range was designing something that was practical.

02:08Most visually impaired people in South Africa are in the lower income bracket.

02:14So my range was based around accessible items that were more affordable for them.

02:22Then worked closely with the blind institutes who transcribed my text into braille.

02:32After the artwork gets sent to a manufacturer that screen prints each garment, it goes back

02:38to the blind institute to have it tested to see if the braille is readable for a visually

02:43impaired person.

02:49Braille is normally in circles and I've pushed it and made them in squares and I have them

02:54on my t-shirts.

02:55I have a slogan that says Lost in Translation over my clothing.

03:03This is a hidden message in braille.

03:06The customer's response to my clothing range has been extremely overwhelming.

03:13Explaining that whole process to each customer brings me so much joy to educate someone on

03:18braille and making them aware of the social challenges of visually impaired people.

03:25This is not just for the visually impaired, it's also for the sighted to wear and create

03:29such a bold statement.

03:33I came across for the very first time having braille on garments or clothes where I can

03:41identify what stands on my t-shirt instead of asking assistance from a random person.

03:51In a way it empowers me because now I know what I'm wearing, what's written on my t-shirt

03:58and also what kind of material has been used to design this t-shirt I'm wearing.

04:06My hope is that it reaches every blind person because as a visually impaired person you

04:13are very marginalised, you are not recognised by society or the community we belong to.

04:30Being a fashion designer and trying to make them more fashionable without them seeing

04:35what is fashionable, I think that's pushing boundaries and being innovative and not only

04:40using my skills and talents but creating something with a purpose.

04:49The most important thing to have is support, that is what motivates you, not only from

04:54a wider audience, from your own little circle that really pushes you to say you're doing great.

05:05As a designer I would love other designers to incorporate any social challenge that is

05:11close to their heart, it doesn't need to be somebody that's visually impaired, there's

05:16so many disabilities out there that really need social challenge to be solved for them.

05:25I think that whenever you have a passionate story it really brings out your design, so

05:31go back to your roots, I'm sure there's something in there that will inspire your designs.

05:39I have this saying, what you do for yourself dies with you but what you do for others lasts a lifetime.

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