Inclusive Design Is Not Area of interest

British Fashion Council panel during London Fashion Week on Disability Inclusion – Addressing the … [+] Challenges and Showcasing the Triumphs.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 15 per cent of the global population have a disability, forming the world’s largest minority community. It is also the only minority community that anyone can potentially become part of at any point in their life. Yet, when it comes to telling our stories, we have either been reduced to harmful stereotypes or left out of the conversation entirely.

There is a misguided notion that people with disabilities somehow are not able to live full lives, delight in eclectic patterns and vibrant lipsticks and that their self-expression should be muted. This is far from the case and exactly why authentic representation is vital. This autumns’ series of Fashion Weeks once again took the world by storm, and it was refreshing to note that they are progressively becoming more diverse.

Designer Chamiah Dewey and models wearing the UK’s first multi award winning sustainable clothing … [+] brand for short statured people

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This long-awaited representation is slowly but surely eroding the historical stigmas surrounding people with disabilities. We need to accelerate the move beyond optics and tokenism. Undeniably, we need to see more people with disabilities in front of the camera, but we also need to see them behind the camera, too. We need to see people who look like us in positions of power at magazines, at global beauty and fashion brands, within the teams behind fashion weeks, in casting agencies – all of the places where we have historically been forgotten.

There is a myriad of misconceptions and miseducation surrounding disabled people and much of it stems from negative media portrayals and antiquated stereotypes. Much of the misunderstandings and faux pas could be eliminated by simply asking us what we need or how we can get better together. With such global influence fashion houses, in fact the business of fashion as a whole, have an opportunity and responsibility to shift the narrative by making people with disabilities visible.

Kurt Geiger’s People Empowered campaign provides an opportunity for people who have been historically underrepresented with a platform for them to share their lived experiences, their stories and educate consumers about the misconceptions and lack of representation in the industry. Kurt Geiger’s Global Head of Brand Communications & Marketing, Pascale Montaner said: “People Empowered has been a learning journey. We’ve been working hand in hand with the people we’ve been celebrating. Nothing has been our own decision. We asked the individuals how they wanted their stories to be told, how they want to be styled and what they are comfortable with. They are really part of the campaign, not just in front of the camera, but in creating, building and constructing the campaign. It’s very important to make sure it’s two ways.”

In 2021, Nielsen studied 450,000 primetime adverts on US broadcast and cable television and found that only 1% included representation of disability related themes, visuals or topics. This is devastating as what we see and what we hear as a society we respond to so if we’re not there, in front of the camera, behind the camera and in the business, we are disappeared. Businesses need to use the power of their brands and be intentional about who they work with. It is vital that businesses embrace full diversity throughout their supply chains. Businesses will work with people who have the same values as they do and that is how we can effect systemic change.

Disability Fashion Stylist and Founder of Cur8able, Stephanie Thomas, believes “we are going to have to deconstruct to reconstruct…There is a lack of knowledge that prevents people from taking disability inclusion a step further, they are not educating customer service, they aren’t making sure that people in the stores understand it and they aren’t training people about it.

The introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensured that people with disabilities had access to stores and that the fitting rooms were accessible. However, at present, there is no clothing line on the floor or retail real estate that is dedicated to people with disabilities. Moreover, as a pet parent, you can go into stores at various price points from fast fashion to luxury and purchase clothing designed for your pet.”

Model and GB Special Olympics 2x Gold medalist, Lily Mills

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We need to continue to move the dial forward. Burberry’s VP Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Geoffrey Williams, recently said: “Now it’s about pushing everyone beyond just conversation to say, ‘No you own this. You play a part in making this change – it’s not just one person.’ It’s the responsibility of all of us that work in this organisation. If you see something, call it out, bring it to the attention of the team. If you think that we should be doing something, let’s have that conversation.” Williams also spoke on the importance of supporting employees: “I’m dyslexic, so how does that show up in the needs of our employees? What do we need to do, from a capability standpoint, to make sure that people can design, create, innovate in our organisation with the tools they need?”

There is no point having hyper visible campaigns featuring people with disabilities if they cannot access the fashion shows or even the stores. Many of the world-renowned brands exemplified during the Fashion Weeks are situated in listed buildings. Disability activist and CEO of Tilting the Lens, Sinéad Burke, said: “At what point are we going to start putting people before architecture?” Digital accessibility is a cause for concern too. However, there is a growing uprising of smaller brands changing the face of fashion and tasking the gate keepers. Algorithms on Facebook and Instagram—social media platforms which serve as crucial marketing tools for small brands without large advertising budgets—often block images of adaptive clothing. Currently, algorithms will visually scan the images and if there is any presence of a wheelchair, cane or crutches, the ad is immediately denied and classified as medical. A brand can have two ads with the exact same outfit and descriptions, the only difference is that the model is a wheelchair user, and the image depicting the wheelchair will be banned.

It is estimated that the disabled community spends $1.7tr every year. Reportedly, in the UK alone, businesses lose an estimated £2bn every month by ignoring the Disabled market and recent research has found that $10bn in funding and spending (in the US and Canada alone) will be migrating over the next ten years to the businesses which take accessibility seriously in their design. This demonstrates that disability inclusion within fashion is non-negotiable and will have a huge impact in how we view universal design and accessibility moving forwards. Difference differentiates and with our wealth of different lived experiences we can effectively inform our creative industries. There is so much untapped, unique, gorgeous viewpoints that can be drawn upon. We need leadership to pave the way -not just the creators, we need more data so we can accurately assess where we are at.

Far too often, inclusive design is seen as other or niche and doesn’t get the fanfare it deserves. Yet body shapes, human needs and individual attitudes differ from the mainstream images and ideals we are prescribed to. Fashion should simply be down to an individual’s expression – gender, race, disability, sexuality, faith and age shouldn’t determine how we create visual and functional styles that empower and enable. We need to collaborate with one another to get better, faster together, because collectively we have to fail in order to learn.

Leonard Cohen said: “forget your perfect offering because it’s the cracks where the light gets in.” Let’s look at the failures and what it delivers for us creatively. Let’s continue to have the uncomfortable conversations and embrace the learnings and beauty that come from it.

Watch London Fashion Week’s Disability Inclusion panel – Addressing the Challenges and Showcasing the Triumphs here.