In recent years, fashion has been experiencing significant changes, increasingly betting on diversity. Famous clothing brands present new collections outside the usual margins, and models with some type of disability, whether sensory or motor, reach the catwalks of fashion weeks. Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Marks
Routine acts such as fastening a bra or undoing a button become a challenge for some people with special needs. Therefore, in September, Victoria's Secret in collaboration with Gamut Management, a consulting company for people with disabilities, launched an adaptive lingerie collection. The line includes bras that fasten at the front with magnets, as well as panties with magnetic side closures so you don't have to put your legs through the holes. The collection's presentation challenged conventional standards of beauty and featured models using crutches, wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.
Despite the fact that 15% of the world's population lives with some type of disability, according to the World Bank, the adaptive clothing market is still developing at a slow pace. In Spain alone there are more than 4.3 million men and women who have deficiencies of some kind, according to the INE. However, every year more companies join the inclusive revolution. In 2017, before collaborating with Victoria's Secret, Mindy Scheier, founder of Gamut Management, helped Tommy Hilfiger design its first line of tailored clothing and pursue the goal of being a brand accessible to everyone. Magnetic buttons, Velcro closures, zippers with longer grips were part of the collection that maintained the brand's own aesthetics and at the same time made the process of wearing the garment easier. Designer Tommy Hilfiger knows first-hand the needs of a child with disabilities; his son with autism was the inspiration for this innovative collection. Now, he continues to expand his already consolidated line of adaptive clothing, and creates solutions designed for adults and children with difficulties, such as garments that allow dressing while sitting and specific fits for prostheses.
For children with special needs the British multinational Marks
Tying shoelaces can also be a challenge for people with disabilities. When Matthew Walzer was 17 years old, he wrote a letter to the American company Nike, describing his situation: he has flexibility in only one of his hands due to cerebral palsy, and cannot find shoes that he can put on without help. nobody. Three years later, in 2015, the author of the letter received a response from Nike: he inspired sneakers designed especially for people with motor disabilities. Together with Tobie Hatfield, the designer who had worked with Paralympic athletes, Nike created the Flyease model that has a closure on the heel that makes it easy for the user to slide the foot into the shoe and close it with one hand.
