Adaptive Fashion: Clothing Participation Barriers
The industry is changing — particularly its media department — but the “trend” toward diversity has not stalled. Mostly because, much like the shifts in the fashion media world, diversity is not a trend, it’s a reality.
- The Fashion Spot
What is it & Why?
Adaptive or accessible fashion is clothing that is made with universal design in mind, for disabled people or those who need easier dressing options. Today’s clothing market is still not adapted enough for those with bodies that go against the societal norm. Since ready-made clothing took over the market, it has also likely increased difficulty of finding appropriate clothing and additional issues such as price accessibility have arisen. This problem may be a result of some designers often creating in their own image, concentrating on their own experience. This alienates those who are marginalised. A lack of accessible clothing creates barriers to social participation and desired activities for disabled people.
In 2016 a study was conducted by Alison Kabel to investigate clothing participation barriers among disabled people. It resulted in half of participants reporting that they did not partake in an activity due to not having the right or accessible clothing to wear for it. Two-thirds reported that this was a common problem in their lives. These activities included jobs, school, exercise and social or family gatherings. This also had a negative outcome on their mental and physical health. A lack of suitable clothing was confirmed to have a significant impact on the disabled people’s quality of life and actively hold them back from participation in everyday life.
Clothing is one of the first activities of the day and crucial for being included by society. No one deserves a life without fitted clothing.
“The lack of adaptive or appropriate clothing or apparel for people living with disabilities can become a barrier, preventing engagement in meaningful activities, yet these barriers are not often explicitly identified.”
It is an area lacking support and research from the fashion industry, however there has undeniably been a rise in the availability of adaptive fashion over the most recent years. It is surely only up from here, as disabled people and designers begin to work together, collaborating to democratise fashion. We wish to showcase these improvements and bring them together under one online space.
There is no wrong or right way to create adaptive clothing, as long as the outcome is ease of dressing and choice. Ultimately, adaptive fashion comes down to choice and giving disabled people their basic right to price accessible adaptive clothing; remembering that accessible fashion benefits everyone and that the industry has only just begun.
Main icon of adaptive fashion, red arched capital A, with an arrow through text.
Enter: AdaptiveFashion.co.uk
AdaptiveFashion.co.uk aims to not only be a resource for disabled people, to help aid the search for suitable clothing in a mature and fun way, but to also cover this growth of the adaptive fashion industry. It aims to record the history being made everyday by those working towards a more inclusive future within the fashion world. We consider this change in the industry to be momentous and believe it deserves recognition. We believe that one day adaptive fashion will be fully integrated into society, but the journey there cannot forgotten.
Stick around with us and help push the fashion industry towards a more inclusive future, we need you. Let your voice be heard and get involved.
Have you faced any clothing participation barriers? Join in the conversation below or on social media. follow us to stay up to date on all things adaptive fashion.
We spend an afternoon with Natasha Lipman to discuss her personal style and disability