When we think of accessible and inclusive fashion, we might envision older models on the runway, plus-size representation, or the occasional model in a wheelchair. But let’s be honest: these instances often feel like exceptions rather than the norm.
Enter Open Style Lab (OSL), a disability-led non-profit organization committed to making style accessible to everyone, regardless of their cognitive and physical abilities.
Open Style Lab is Putting Disability Experts at the Heart of Fashion Design
OSL’s approach is unique and powerful. Their annual summer program brings together multidisciplinary teams of designers, occupational therapists, and individuals with disabilities to create innovative, stylish, and accessible fashion solutions. This year’s program, hosted at New Lab, showcased the results of an intensive 6-week co-design sprint in accessible footwear.
As I walked into the exhibition space, I was immediately struck by the energy in the room. Five booths, each manned by a designer, an occupational therapist, and a disability expert, displayed mood boards, sketch models, material samples, and final working prototypes.
They all spoke with so much passion and enthusiasm about the design process, all the failed experiments, the happy accidents, the things they learned along the way. You could tell that, over the course of 6 short weeks, they had not only managed to arrive at a working prototype —which is already an impressive feat (I can strongly attest to this, as a former industrial designer who has dabbled in footwear design)—but they also formed such strong bonds. The compassion, empathy, and care that went into every one of the prototypes speaks volumes about the power of their collaborative process.
OSL executive director Yamsin Keats emphasizes the importance of this approach:
“Every year, we run a summer program where we bring together multidisciplinary teams from design, occupational therapy, and people with disabilities to design with and not for. This year, we’ve taken it one step further. We’re not just doing designing with, we’re designing by.”
But why is this co-design process so crucial? Let me ask you this: how many times have you watched someone with a disability try to put their shoes on? Unless you have personal experience, probably never. And therein lies the problem.
The Pitfall of Designing “For”
As designers, we often talk about empathy and “putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes.” But how possible is that really? Let me answer that for you: it isn’t.
Some designers might be familiar with the infamous wheelchair simulation. When non-disabled designers try to understand the experience of people with restricted mobility by sitting in a wheelchair for a few hours, they often end up with able-normative solutions that don’t account for the alternative skillsets that people who use wheelchairs have developed.
But why go through all that trouble in the first place? As Keats eloquently states,
“People with disabilities are the best problem solvers. They problem-solve every single day of their lives. They’re dealing with a world that was not designed for them. They’re hacking everything. They are already prime designers.”
The Importance of Accessible Fashion
So, why aren’t more brands designing for accessibility? The need is certainly there.
Keats points out, “There are over 60 million people with disabilities in the US, and this is only growing with the aging population. We are all going to have some kind of challenge with our body at some point in our lives. It’s inevitable. Whether it’s trouble with dexterity in your hands or trouble with swelling. So when we’re talking about this subject, we’re not just talking about disability like it’s something other. We’re talking about bodily challenges and how design can alleviate inaccessible barriers within that day-to-day.”
This year’s program focused on footwear, a particularly challenging area of accessible design. Keats notes, “Through our research, we found that 47% of people we interviewed identified footwear as one of the most challenging items of clothing to get on and get off.”
A Closer Look at Innovating for Accessibility: Team Levi’s Kintsugi Shoe
I had the chance to speak with Team Levi. Levi Waterhouse, who has dwarfism, specifically achondroplasia, typically wears a men’s size 3 or women’s size 4 shoe. The team designed a formal shoe named “Kintsugi,” inspired by the traditional Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with lacquer and gold.
Laura Carol-Parker, the occupational therapist on Team Levi, explains, “We used the Kintsugi methodology, putting pieces together to make a better shoe for him. The definition of Kintsugi is taking broken pieces and putting it together that makes an object more beautiful. It also has a philosophy of increasing newfound strength, resilience, and beauty.”
Design expert, Hiral Parmar, was eager to talk me through the design process and explain all the different iterations that they went through, from deconstructing existing shoes, experimenting with different materials, and processes, and testing prototypes with Levi.
The team’s most exciting innovation was a template they designed that could potentially be used by manufacturers to create shoes in Levi’s size, adding an element of scalability to their solution.
Rethinking Design: Industry Challenges and Open Style Lab’s Insights
Another design expert, Sophia Luu, shared her industry perspective: “As a technical designer, I’m very used to multiple constraints being handed down to me. It’s always budget first; then it’s material, it’s the silhouette, the list goes on. While I’ve been fortunate to work with brands that have had an emphasis on fit inclusivity and inclusive branding to a point, the variable of meeting disabled needs is not often on the table in the product development process.”
Luu continues, “This is where Open Style Lab shines so brightly. The theme of the summer was human empowerment. It’s empowering for me as a designer to regain that autonomy, to make my design decisions. It is also inspiring to see users’ autonomy revitalized. A flesh and blood human was telling me whether this design worked for them, whether it’s desirable, whether they felt the design included them.”
Transforming Fashion like Open Style Lab
Isn’t it time for the fashion industry to take note? By bringing people with disabilities into the design process as active participants rather than passive consultants, OSL is setting a new standard for inclusive design.
As disability expert fellow Sam Berman succinctly puts it:
“Practice empathy. Don’t make assumptions. Trust that disabled people know our own experiences.”
Open Style Lab’s summer program demonstrates that accessible, stylish fashion is not only possible but essential. It challenges us to rethink our approach to design, putting those with disabilities at the forefront of the creative process.
As we move forward, we must ask ourselves: how can we make our designs more inclusive? How can we ensure that style is truly accessible to everyone? The answers lie in collaboration, in listening, and in recognizing that true innovation comes from diverse perspectives. After all, isn’t that what fashion is all about?
– Maria Alexia Platia
Related Articles
