Iam Miss Prata, a young woman in love with inclusive fashion. I live in London and I will share my knowledge and life history to raise awareness of inclusion in fashion.
People with disabilities represent more than 1.2 billion people globally. We are talking about a market as big as China that is frankly expanding like other markets.
In the case of the United Kingdom, it is estimated that the collective purchasing power of this segment is worth £ 249 billion for the country’s economy.
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Inclusive fashion encompasses a vast market with several sub-sectors, such as: fashion designers; modeling agencies; inclusive brands; mannequins with disabilities; inclusive companies and fashion weeks.
Unfortunately, what we wear in our day-to-day life has a major impact on how we see ourselves and how we feel as human beings.
If you are disabled, the situation becomes a bit more complicated, since finding clothes that work for you is not always an easy task.
That’s why Baiga Magazine is launching a new space dedicated to inclusive fashion to help you find new solutions and serve as a wake-up call for the industry’s professionals.
Inclusive Fashion
Inclusive fashion is dedicated to people with some kind of disability. Its main goal is to simplify the act of getting dressed, taking into account the physical and psychological needs of each individual, without giving up comfort, design and style.
Challenges
The relationship between people with disabilities and the market is not very positive. Particularly in the fashion industry, the demand for more flexible clothing alternatives for people with disabilities is increasing, but the supply is still very slow.
Among the adaptations of clothing that people with disabilities look for are the replacement of buttons by locks, velcro or magnet; the insertion of elastics in jeans; and pockets in strategic places – in order to offer comfort and practicality.
And what are the challenges for whoever wants to invest in inclusive fashion?
The challenges are not only related to the design of the clothes, but they also encompass the infrastructures of the stores.
That is: starting with issues such as accessibility, fitting rooms; through the introduction of adapted catalogs (online and printed), up until the training of the employees themselves, who must be prepared for the tasks of differentiated service. The goals are more than many.
Attention, investors!
Tailored products also require tailored environments that follow standards and meet the specific needs of consumers. Architectural barriers cause many constraints and limit free access, preventing the inclusive fashion proposal from achieving its real objectives.
However, many brands still do not know how to respond to this niche market. Many stores are poorly designed and do not offer products and clothing that are adaptable to people with disabilities or, in many cases, clothing is not appealing to consumers, being far from traditional fashion trends.
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Solutions
Some fashion brands in the UK are already moving towards a more inclusive path, including: Marks & Spencer, Tommy Hilfiger, River Island and Asos.
This revolution begins with changes in advertising campaigns and innovative clothing lines. In the case of Marks & Spencer and Tommy Hilfiger, they have launched adapted lines for adults and children with physical and mental disabilities. Hopefully this statement will open doors for other brands to follow the same route, because there is a broad audience waiting to be served.
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© Tommy Hilfiger© Tommy HilfigerThe secret to the success of these brands? Getting the disabled community involved from the beginning of the process (brainstorming, design and marketing).
Marks & Spencer’s new “Easy Dressing” children’s clothing line was conceived, designed and developed with its customers for two years, starting with a survey of 300 parents and designed to be as close as possible to the children’s fashion main line . Likewise, Tommy Hilfiger includes clothes with one-handed closures, extended apertures, adjustable straps and magnetic clasps, while retaining the brand’s DNA.
The inclusive fashion also aims to awaken, share knowledge on the subject and demystify issues related to disability itself; expand the vision and consequently the action of partners and employees on the potential consumption of the population with disabilities and create opportunities for new business.
“Our deficiency does not condition our taste for fashion and we all like to feel elegant. Our deficiency does not define us, so the adaptations should not define our clothes.”
Miss Prata – I am a disabled young woman who speaks about accessibility from a business perspective, specialising in assisting businesses with increasing their profits by way of supporting accessibility for customers with a disability. B2B is the DNA of my consultancy services and access audits; my clients have financial return of 30% of their business revenue after execute my services. I have recently been appointed Access Project Manager to Disability Action in the Borough of Barnet (“DabB”). Also, work as a disabled model represent by Zebedee Management.
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