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Does the Fashion Industry Neglect Disability?
Fashion is a huge industry and is so embedded into our daily lives even if we do not necessarily notice it. Fashion is everywhere on television adverts, billboards, magazines, and many more platforms, and over the years has sparked various questions as to whether the fashion industry is bias to certain stereotypes. Disabled people for many years have been ignored in mainstream fashion and in the year 2020, it should be something celebrated and expressed through fashion and fashion marketing. It is prominent that from mainstream fashion brands websites, and social media pages that their content clearly does not tailor the disabled community, as in many cases there is zero…
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Adaptions needed within the Fashion Industry to help those with Visual Impairment
According to RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) more than two million people in the UK live with sight loss. This seems a staggering statistic and since visual impairment could affect anyone, an accessibility to shop for oneself would seem a simple freedom most would expect to have. However, there is an evident lack of accessibility within the fashion industry. People suffering from sight loss cannot simply walk into a high-street store and buy an item of clothing without the help of another person and this independence will not be available unless the fashion industry adapts. The changes that need to be made in stores Tags and labels do…
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Ellie Goldstein: the New Face of Fashion
One of the biggest compliments you could give the fashion industry is that it can change perceptions. It can be the voice for change throughout the world. Fashion is giving the disabled community a platform for the first time and at last, there is hope, hope that we may just be approaching a level playing field. A change embraced by all in an attempt to bring those with disabilities to the table when it comes to fashion. It has not been commonplace for brands to put their head above the parapet in this way. It’s an attempt to change the status quo in their area of work. The appointment of…
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Fashion and Disability: It’s Time for More Inclusion
Disability can be a sensitive subject. It can come in physical and mental forms and does not discriminate. In the fashion industry, disability is kind of a taboo subject. First thing’s first, it’s not openly addressed as much as it should be. Throughout this article, we’ll explore why in more detail. There’s also often negativity surrounding disabilities, which is understandable. However, disabilities need to be seen as empowering. For someone to live their life with a disability is amazing and shows their inner strength. The Paralympic Games is a prime example of how to put a stop to the negative stigma of disability. Each event shows how disabled people have…
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It’s time to represent everyone in fashion
Since the start of advertising for industries like fashion, there have been specific standards and stereotypes used to present products to the consumer. In the fashion world, these standards and stereotypes are imagined through tall, thin, and predominantly white models. These models are beautiful people in the eyes of society but only represent the minority. It’s time for this industry to open its eyes and represent every person, every body type, every gender and every culture. The dawn of diverse representation In a world where there are so many different types of people, the fashion industry was slow to represent them. It was only in the 2010s when we began…
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How Adaptive Fashion Can Assist People with Disabilities
In order to help cater to people with disabilities, brands can incorporate adaptive design into their clothes. There are a wide variety of disabilities whether that be physical disabilities or impairments which can make accessing mainstream fashion impossible for a huge percentage of the population. 21% of people in the United Kingdom are reported to have a disability, which is around 14.1 million people. This is a huge proportion of the population who are not catered to by the majority of fashion brands. There are a lot of things brands can do to try to help people with disabilities and there are two main issues that influence the poor relationship between…
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Inclusive Fashion: How Fashion Neglects our Multitude
From spangles to spandex and couture to cosy, the fashion industry can seem the most inclusive trade of all. It caters to style, occasion, and fit but what about need? What about fashion and disability? Most people will think that disability is few and far between; the fashion industry is vast enough to cater to anyone’s tastes. But the label of ‘disability’- meaning someone with an impairment e.g. a wheelchair, a prosthetic of some sort, a learning difficulty, or condition that on occasion means there is a limit to what that person can undertake – is an umbrella term for a wide range of diagnosis. Because of the vastness of…
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Improving the Fashion Industry with Zebedee Management
We can probably all agree the fashion industry is changing for the better. There is more diversity and inclusion for POC/BAME and different religions. Yet, what are we doing for disability in the industry? Let me introduce Zebedee. By managing creatives with disabilities, they are improving the fashion industry (and in the best way!). Introducing Zebedee Management Zebedee Management is an agency which supports those with physical and mental disabilities. Not only this, but they also support those with ‘alternative’ appearances and trans/non-binary. The fashion industry often excludes people in these categories and therefore lacks diversity in this matter. Established in 2017, it is the first agency of it’s kind…
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Are Mental Health Issues Greater in Creative Industries such as Fashion?
In a recent surveys of people working in the creative industry (undertook by the university of Ulster) almost two thirds of participants reported to having suicidal thoughts. In the fashion industry, people are 25% more likely to encounter mental health problems at some point in their life. This makes us think weather the creative industries have a detrimental affect on people’s mental health? Or weather there is a correlation with being creative and suffering mental health issues? With more and more discourse and people coming forward about mental illness in the fashion industry, we are now fortunate to be in a society where it is less taboo to voice our…
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Eating Disorders and the Fashion Industry
We live in a world full of constant pressures. Whether that be from work or school, from ourselves or even from things that are meant to make us feel good – like fashion. We sometimes don’t realise that the things meant to enrich our lives are harming us. Remember Tumblr? As a teenager I was very into Tumblr. I would spend most of my time after school in the depths of the search bar, looking for fashion and life inspiration. I was always going into my city to look at and buy clothes to fit the style I wanted to have. While I thought I was having a good time…
