When clothes cause harm, innovation in adaptive fashion is the future of design

As admiration for British Vogue’s powerful May 2023 cover featuring prominent figures from the disability community continues to reverberate widely, we are reminded of the importance of visibility and representation. Vogue’s creative director Edward Enninful lives with a disability himself. People within our industry have a habit of dismissing fashion with statements like “It’s not as if we’re curing cancer,“ however fashion has the potential to heal. There is the psychological healing associated with seeing oneself reflected on the cover of the preeminent fashion magazine after a lifetime of feeling unseen by the luxury industry. But rarely discussed in the mainstream is how fashion has for decades been inflicting harm. Until recently the seemingly innocent decisions of a designer or pattern maker had the potential to be life-threatening.