Disability Advocacy in Fashion Design

Originally marketed towards older adults followed by children, adaptive fashion greatly impacts the everyday independence of all disabled people. Utilizing the Person-Environment-Occupation model and understanding the relationship between the disabled community, clothing, and occupational participation and again with the fashion company, the designer, and their fulfillment of a need or gap in accessibility lead to the purpose of this capstone of identifying occupational therapy’s role in designing ready-to-wear adaptive clothing through understanding and bridging the gaps in fashion education for designers. To address this, advocacy in education and educational materials were created to fill this gap and promote accessibility and production of adaptive fashion. Future work is necessary to advocate for adaptive fashion and disability inclusion within the design process. Inclusion and discussions for accessibility are the precursors to action and implementation of change that will increase the quality of life for all.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2023/1033/thumbnail.jp