Adaptive fashion for people with disabilities

DW (English)

A London fashion label offers expressive apparel that can be adapted for people with a disability. Ever more models are presenting adaptive fashion on social media.

Transcript

00:00Hip, eye-catching and colourful, that's the fashion that Londoner Clara Holmes likes.

00:07She's modelled for a Vogue photo shoot, and on her Instagram channel she poses in a variety

00:12of outfits.

00:13She sees fashion as self-determination and as self-expression.

00:18But people with disabilities have a relatively limited selection.

00:23Fashion is for everyone, regardless of ability, I mean none of us walk around naked, you know

00:29we all wear clothes, it's just, it needs to be more accessible for all.

00:35A rare hereditary connective tissue disorder has kept Clara bound to a wheelchair since

00:39her mid-twenties.

00:43A factor in her choice of clothes is ease of wear.

00:47They shouldn't be any trouble to put on.

00:53I wear a lot of dresses because I find they're easy to get on, I don't have to pull them

00:58up and fiddle with the buttons and be uncomfortable, I can just slip it on and it's just, I'm

01:05ready to go.

01:07The fashion world has long ignored people with disabilities.

01:11What's known as adaptive wear has been mainly available in medical supply stores or exclusively

01:16to older people.

01:17Some of the adaptive wear that is out there, that's available, like, it's not fashionable,

01:23it's not fashionable enough, it's functional, but we also want the fashion experts, we want

01:27colour, we don't want to wear black, just like plus-size people don't want to wear

01:30black and they're making clothes with more colour, we want the same thing for adaptive

01:34wear.

01:36And things are indeed changing.

01:38Such labels as Primark, Nike and Zalando have put out adaptive collections.

01:44And demand is only set to grow.

01:46Our societies are changing all the time, chronic disorders are on the rise.

01:50Some labels have even specialised in adaptive wear, such as the London-based Unhidden.

01:55Founder Victoria Jenkins has a disability which led her to discover a market opening.

02:02What goes into this type of fashion?

02:06Adaptive fashion is fashion that is specifically made for people with disabilities.

02:10I try and say adaptive is for really specific disabilities, like for wheelchair users or

02:15for short stature, whereas everything else is universal because it can be worn by anybody,

02:20it just has extra things built into it.

02:23Victoria develops her creations according to her clients' needs.

02:27Model Laura has an artificial limb.

02:30Would that be the right height?

02:31Oh yeah, it's perfect.

02:33Sometimes I wear a liner over the top of it that goes up to about this height, so as long

02:38as I can get it right up to the top of my thigh then it's all good for me.

02:44The concept behind Unhidden is garments in differing versions.

02:48The seated version doesn't have any frills on the back and it's kind of shaped on the

02:53body for a wheelchair user.

02:54Short stature version is quite specialised and again it's based on, we had to work quite

02:59strongly with the model who wore it in the end.

03:02And then this is the universal version, they've all got elastic at the side so that it doesn't

03:06rub and however you move it's not uncomfortable.

03:10Unhidden presented their collection at London Fashion Week in autumn 2023.

03:14Clara was on the catwalk as a model.

03:18Yeah, it's definitely a tick moment, bucket list, done, tick, you know, so yeah, it was

03:24amazing, it was great.

03:25Going down the runway with my fellow disabled fashion buddies, modelling, starting our stuff,

03:33being fierce and owning it was amazing.

03:37More and more creators like Clara are presenting their adaptive fashion on social media.

03:41But will this trend really have an effect on the fashion industry?

03:45I think finally there is a moment where brands are thinking about inclusivity and adaptive

03:50fashion as a trend.

03:52It's a long way to go and it shouldn't just be a tick box exercise, I think this needs

03:56to be a commitment to real, lasting change because disability isn't going anywhere.

04:00It can impact anyone at any time.

04:02So it needs to be normalised, it needs to be on the high street.

04:06Clara's not one to be discouraged.

04:08On the contrary, she's rediscovered fashion for herself.

04:13It definitely was a learning curve, I had to kind of, I kind of fell in love with fashion

04:18all over again.

04:20My purpose was about loving myself for who I am now, stop grieving for my old life when

04:26I wasn't really happy with myself, I wasn't very confident with who I am and my body,

04:32and actually just celebrate who I am and be more comfortable and be more happy and be

04:36grateful for life and enjoy it.

04:41Clara's positive approach may well encourage others to feel more at home with their own

04:44bodies and show it in expressive apparel as well.

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