Designing For Women With Disabilities

Is the fashion industry ready to be this inclusive? Keah Brown looks at the new adaptive fashion offerings.

- Keah Brown

If you’ve ever struggled to button your pants, you know it can be frustrating. Now imagine spending 30 minutes trying—and ultimately failing. That’s me most days. (And yes, I let the F-bombs fly.) I’m not buying a size too small; I have cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that limits my range of motion and ability to grasp objects on my right side. When it comes to getting dressed, trouble with pants is just the beginning. I have a tough time getting shirts and dresses over my head and my arms through sleeves. I don’t do well with button-up blouses, since the buttons are usually on the left. Jackets, particularly ones that zip, are also a challenge. I often end up asking whomever I’m with for help—not fun when you’re 26.

People with disabilities are constantly forced to find wardrobe workarounds. Jillian Mercado, a model who has appeared in campaigns for Diesel and Nordstrom, got pretty inventive in dressing for the leg braces she once used because of her spastic muscular dystrophy. (She still uses a wheelchair.) “I’d cut slits into the bottoms of my pants, then attach Velcro so they’d close over the braces,” she recalls.