Adaptive Fashion: What needs to change to better meet the needs of consumers?
Exploring the Barriers and Opportunities in Making Adaptive Clothing More Accessible: Analyzing Industry Assumptions, Stereotypes, and the Progress Toward Inclusivity. This research examines how mainstream fashion often overlooks diverse needs—such as sensory-friendly fabrics and adaptive fasteners—while also highlighting the positive strides made by companies like Harriett Eccleston and Nike in creating more inclusive, representative clothing.
Clothing is a basic need within society; ensuring warmth, comfort, cultural and social functions as well as the freedom to express one’s identity. Within social functions, garments, for people with a disability, can particularly obstruct day to day activities if not wearing the correct clothing size, shape, fabrics style and how accessible it is. This is resulting in the rise in demand for adaptive fashion. ‘Adaptive clothing is specifically designed for seniors, people with disabilities, people with limited mobility, patients undergoing medical treatment and people who may have difficulty dressing themselves independently’ (Raj, 2021). With the high demand and vast market, there are still barriers
which are marginalising disabled people, as they need more accessible and cheaper clothing targeted for specific intersections within the market. According to the UK disability statistics, it is ‘estimated 14.6 million people in the UK had a disability in 2020/21 which represents 22% of the total population. This has increased since 2002/03 by 35%’
(Kirk-Wade, 2022). As a result, the rise in disability, especially since Covid-19, has increased the overall demand for adaptive clothing within the UK. Yet, there are still many ways the fashion industry needs to adapt in order to amend the barrier.
Throughout this Critical Research Project, in order to find out what needs to change to better meet the needs of consumers with disabilities, specific questions will be asked questioning about the lack and avoidance of mainstream adaptive clothing available. By focusing on how the industry make adaptive clothing more accessible, this will also investigate how the industry are using assumptions and stereotypes in order to either avoid
entering the industry or viewing all intersections as one majestic group. From Velcro fasteners, sensory friendly and crease-resistant fabrics, this project will be analysing why major brands are not participating accommodating to make brands more inclusive, especially regarding representation and clothing identities. Yet, there has also been detailed research into how the fashion industry are slowly becoming more inclusive through brands
such as Harriett Eccleston, Nike and Pretty Little thing and a secondary interview with Unhidden designer, Victoria Jenkins. An interview with disabled drag artist, Luca has also been conducted, which will investigate the current barriers between fashion designers, Occupation Specialists and disabled people first hand. There will also be a brief investigation to how brands can be educated in order to respond to industry demands of representation
and designing of adaptive clothing as well as the use of primary and secondary research to provide evidence for my points.
See below for the full project: