During London Fashion Week, fashion designer Victoria Jenkins presented her collection of stylish and practical clothes designed specifically for people with disabilities.
The event, named “Unhidden: A New Era in Fashion,” showcased around 30 models, all of whom live with a disability, chronic condition, or visible difference.
Jenkins, who has reduced mobility herself, recognised the gap in the market for clothes designed for all bodies during a hospital stay in 2016, when another patient brought it to her attention.
She decided to use her experience as a garment technologist to create her brand of adaptive fashion, “Unhidden,” which targets inclusion of people with disabilities in the fashion industry.
Jenkins’ collection includes floaty dresses with easy access around the waist, colourful chiffon tie shirts with adjustable sleeves, and royal blue shirts with pop snaps that open and close easily.
The collection also features shirts with longer backs for wheelchair users, tailor-made suits, and other practical designs.
Jessica Ping-Wild, a model and content creator who uses a prosthetic leg, expressed her appreciation for Unhidden, saying that a designer taking into account that bodies are different breaks the mould of beauty that has been ingrained in society for centuries.
Jenkins hopes that her clothes become more widely available in the future, as she believes that diversity without disability isn’t true diversity.
She wants people to understand that being disabled is not a bad word and that fashion should be accessible to everyone. By creating her brand, Jenkins aims to provide people with disabilities with the opportunity to dress how they need to without sacrificing their dignity.
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