WEBVTT - How Can the Fashion Industry Better Serve People with Disabilities?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. The fashion industry has some catching

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<v Speaker 1>up to do when it comes to considering people with disabilities.

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<v Speaker 1>That's according to the results of a recent study which

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<v Speaker 1>surveyed a hundred and thirteen people with mobility impairments. The

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<v Speaker 1>findings showed that about half of the respondents were unable

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<v Speaker 1>to attend events like weddings, school dances, and job interviews,

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<v Speaker 1>or even to work out because they couldn't find appropriate clothing.

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<v Speaker 1>Alison Cable, lead study author and assistant professor of Health

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<v Speaker 1>sciences in the University of Missouri's School of Health Professions,

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<v Speaker 1>set in a press release the clothing industry continues to

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<v Speaker 1>exclusively cater to able bodied individuals, despite the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>people with disabilities often miss out on important life events

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<v Speaker 1>due to clothing related problems. The study authors call on

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<v Speaker 1>the fashion industry to take the millions of Americans living

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<v Speaker 1>with disabilities into consideration when creating clothes. They wrote, the

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<v Speaker 1>design fields and apparel industry could play a idal role

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<v Speaker 1>in helping people with mobility disabilities navigate these barriers. Some

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<v Speaker 1>fashion designers have already heated the call Stephanie Alvez is

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<v Speaker 1>the founder, CEO, and designer of a b L Denom,

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<v Speaker 1>which provides quality denom genes for people with limited dexterity

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<v Speaker 1>and mobility or with sensory processing issues like autism. She

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<v Speaker 1>made the leap into the world of adaptive fashion after

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<v Speaker 1>her step sister became a wheelchair user eight years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>Elvis explains she wasn't getting dressed much. She looked on

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<v Speaker 1>the web and all she could find was geriatric clothing,

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<v Speaker 1>So I started a Janes line because everyone said genes

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<v Speaker 1>were what they wanted most. Elves modifies designs to meet

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<v Speaker 1>the various needs of people with disabilities. She said, someone

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<v Speaker 1>who sits in a wheelchair all day can be prone

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<v Speaker 1>to pressure sores. Seems can push and hurt, and pressure

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<v Speaker 1>sores could land you in the hospital for three months,

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<v Speaker 1>so she strategically places seems to prevent pressure sores and

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<v Speaker 1>offers pants that are cut higher in the back to

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<v Speaker 1>prevent them from slipping too low, a common complaint of

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<v Speaker 1>wheelchair users. She offers one style with a zipper from

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<v Speaker 1>the waist to the hips so the whole front of

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<v Speaker 1>the pants can come down. That makes it easier for

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<v Speaker 1>people with catheters, feeding tubes, or clostby bags to use.

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<v Speaker 1>Best of all, anyone can wear her designs, which is

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<v Speaker 1>an important distinction for those who find traditional clothing for

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<v Speaker 1>people with disabilities to be stigmatizing. Elvis said, when I

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<v Speaker 1>wear the jeans, people don't know I'm wearing an adaptive gene.

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<v Speaker 1>Mandalina trout Chon, who lives in Haverstraw, New York, has

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<v Speaker 1>used a wheelchair for twenty years. She blogs at Pretty

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<v Speaker 1>Cripple and knows well the challenges of finding fashionable items

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<v Speaker 1>that are also wheelchair friendly. One of her pet peeves

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<v Speaker 1>is shirts with cuffs that are too long. These can

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<v Speaker 1>get dirty when they rub against the wheelchairs tires. Another

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<v Speaker 1>problem is coats, something also singled out by many respondents

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<v Speaker 1>in the survey. We mentioned earlier. Coats can get stuck

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<v Speaker 1>in the wheelchair wheels because they're so bulky. Tru Chan said,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really hard to tuck it under your butt, so

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<v Speaker 1>you look like a cocoon shape. What would be great

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<v Speaker 1>is if designers could create two slits at the back

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<v Speaker 1>like a guys business jacket. Tu Chon is hopeful that

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<v Speaker 1>the fashion industry will become more cognizant of the needs

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<v Speaker 1>of the disabled community. She said, I think people think

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<v Speaker 1>that maybe disabled people don't care about their appearance, But

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like because I take the effort to look good,

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<v Speaker 1>I make people smile. She reports taking a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>care with choosing her shoes because people always notice them,

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<v Speaker 1>and her hats because quote, your face is the first

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<v Speaker 1>thing a person sees. Another root for customers with disabilities

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<v Speaker 1>who can afford it might be made to order clothing.

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<v Speaker 1>S E n E is a custom made men'sware line

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<v Speaker 1>that serves men of all body types, including those with

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<v Speaker 1>limbs of various sizes. Founder and CEO Ray Lee said

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<v Speaker 1>in an email interview, it's a very tiny subset of

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<v Speaker 1>our customer base, but it's definitely a meaningful one for us.

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<v Speaker 1>Others make do with options in stores. Chris and Selmo,

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<v Speaker 1>who lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, has a form of

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<v Speaker 1>muscular distrophy called Miyoshi myopathy. He looks for pants that

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<v Speaker 1>are wide enough to accommodate his leg braces, and four

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<v Speaker 1>shirts or jacket he can button up or rather than

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<v Speaker 1>pulling over his head because he has lost arm strength.

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<v Speaker 1>He said via email, I see things heading in the

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<v Speaker 1>right direction now that people are starting to realize that

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<v Speaker 1>this is a need and an underserved population. Advocates for

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<v Speaker 1>adaptive and inclusive fashion are starting to make more noise

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<v Speaker 1>on behalf of the disabled population, and some retailers are

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<v Speaker 1>taking note. For example, Walmart dot Com carries a b L.

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<v Speaker 1>Denam items, and the Inclusive Fashion Design Collective was formed

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<v Speaker 1>to improve accessibility to attractive and functional fashion items in

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<v Speaker 1>diverse communities. Tommy Hilfiger also has a line of adaptive

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<v Speaker 1>clothing for kids. In addition to the efforts of individual designers,

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<v Speaker 1>there is the Open Style Lab, a nonprofit public service

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<v Speaker 1>project founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It runs

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<v Speaker 1>a ten week summer program where designers, engineers, and therapists

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<v Speaker 1>get together to create clothes for people with disabilities. It

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<v Speaker 1>also offers an accredited course at Parsons School of Design

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<v Speaker 1>in New York City, and the Lab was part of

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<v Speaker 1>the White House Fashion Show celebrating inclusive design in assist

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<v Speaker 1>of technology and prosthetics, as was a b L. Denum.

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<v Speaker 1>Open Style Lab Executive director Grace June said via email,

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<v Speaker 1>our mission is to make style accessible to people of

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<v Speaker 1>all abilities. While there is a growing number of companies

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<v Speaker 1>in this market. It's still a niche selection of available

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<v Speaker 1>clothing that is specifically aimed at people with disabilities. Any

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<v Speaker 1>individual with or without a disability should have the ability

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<v Speaker 1>to express themselves. Today's episode was written by Elia Hoyt

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other inclusive topics, visit our home planet, how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works dot com.