The Role of Fashion in Processes of Inclusion

The main goal of inclusive fashion is to create types of clothing for people with disabilities. Although Italian fashion is considered an example and a driver of international fashion, there are currently no emerging or prominent brands that deal with inclusive fashion. In addition to the lack of a true commitment to ethics and social responsibility by the various enterprises in the sector, the data suggests that people with disabilities would be willing to spend more than 8 trillion dollars in clothing if only they had the possibility to purchase comfortable, attractive and fashionable items. 

To examine the role of fashion in the processes of social inclusion and exclusion, we interviewed Miriana Leccia, a fashion designer who dedicated her doctoral dissertation to the issue, entitled “Adaptive Fashion: Knitwear for People With Special Needs.” Here are some interesting elements that emerged from our chat.

Inclusive fashion is used to intend a type of clothing created for people with disabilities. In order to be defined as truly “inclusive,” an item of clothing must satisfy three characteristics. It must be:

• accessible, i.e. an item that is easy to put on alone or with someone’s assistance;
• intelligent, because it is conceived to not cause irritation or rashes for people;
• fashionable, that is, able to satisfy the needs of taste and contemporaneity, a requirement often underestimated by the brands that produce clothing for people with disabilities.

Inclusive fashion thus sets the goal of understanding the physical needs caused, for example, by limited movement of limbs, and finding a response that also satisfies the psychological and social function played by clothing; it is through clothing, in fact, that we present ourselves in relationships with others, we express our tastes and characteristics, but above all we tell others who we are. The way to represent and talk about ourselves through clothing influences our emotional and psychological wellbeing, since feeling well in our clothes means feeling well with ourselves and presenting ourselves to others authentically.

Therefore, an inclusive brand does not pursue the idea of a perfect body, but stresses the uniqueness of each body as an aspect of recognition and inclusion. This is why inclusive fashion does not seek mass, standardized production, but personalized, specific production that requires new specialist skills, for example the involvement of ergonomics experts in design.

The origins of inclusive fashion can be traced to the 1930s, when in the United States there was an attempt to adapt or modify clothes in a collection based on the specific needs of people with disabilities. Clinics for people with disabilities began to more deeply explore the relationship between clothing and rehabilitation practices, looking at the process of dressing and undressing as a fundamental moment for self-sufficiency and independence of disabled patients. In the 1950s, a clinic in New York appointed Mary Brown, a clothing designer, to design and produce articles for all of its inpatients. The first inclusive fashion collection was born, that was publicized by international media contributing to both stirring collective awareness and creating a positive anchor to consider the needs of persons with disabilities, considered a consumer target for the first time.

Although Italian fashion is considered an example and a driver of international fashion, there are currently no emerging or prominent brands that deal with inclusive fashion: “Italian brands that work on this type of clothing still have a medical approach to the question,” says Miriana Leccia.[1] In the United States though, there are many brands that seek to combine form and function within their collections: Tommy Hilfiger was the first to create an entire collection for men and women with disabilities, in 2016.^[2]
“The attention to fastening mechanisms, details, and the ergonomics of the article, are only some of the elements that have made this a successful line for the brand. In these collections the taste of the brand is still evident, the colors are those that represent the brand, and the shapes satisfy the various needs and requests of disabled persons.”

In addition to the lack of a true commitment to ethics and social responsibility by the various enterprises in the sector, the data suggests that people with disabilities would be willing to spend more than 8 trillion dollars in clothing[3] if only they had the possibility to purchase comfortable, attractive and fashionable items. Yet the message sent by advertising is still contradictory: “Disabled models are used to attract attention, but then they wear clothes for non-disabled persons that do not meet the needs of their bodies.” We are still far from inclusive fashion.

Reference bibliography:
Chase, R. and Quinn, M. (2003), Design Without Limits. Designing and Sewing for Special Needs. Fairchild publications, Inc., New York.
Dearborn, G. (1918), The Psychology of Fashion, Princeton, Lancaster.
Mair, C. (2018), The Psychology of Fashion, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon.