Adaptive label Christina Stephens has expressed its concern about the lack of disabled models available for fashion brands to use in Australia.
In Australia, one in five people has a disability, however, this segment of the market is severely under-represented, Christina Stephens founder Jessie Sadler said.
"You’re likely to know someone in your family or close circle of friends with a disability.
"But when we scroll through our social media platforms, this significant portion of the population is severely under-represented," she said.
The business put out a call on social media for female models with disabilities to showcase its new sizing range and collection, but was disappointed by the lack of response by the industry.
So instead, the Christina Stephens creative directors went one step further and approached mainstream talent agencies in search of professional models with disabilities.
But again, the business said the result was very disappointing with all but one agency having no disabled talent to choose from.
"Although modelling agencies have a reputation for being exclusive to a certain aesthetic, it’s outrageous that there are so few, if any, models to represent a staggering 20% of our population," Sadler said.
"We absolutely want to showcase real women with real disabilities and challenges, and show other women out there what’s available to them. But it’s hard finding professionally trained people to help us do that," she said.
Sadler adds that it can be challenging to source the right models to represent the brand.
"A lot of our clothes are designed for women in wheelchairs or with dexterity issues, so I’ve literally been on the phone to modelling agencies asking for people with type A disability or type B.
"It can sound like we’re treating potential models as objects, but the reality is that we need to be selective about who we choose to represent our brand authentically.
"Although our clothes are designed for able-bodied women too, we cop a lot of flak online when we haven’t used models with disabilities.
"But trying to find professionals who truly represent the market we cater for is difficult," she said.
Founding ambassador for Christina Stephens, and disability advocate Lisa Cox added the fashion industry is missing out on a huge portion of the population by not embracing inclusive representation.
"Representing people with disabilities, making them visible and recognising their value to our economy and other contributions to society is something that many decision makers are too scared to do.
"Labels like Christina Stephens are both fashionable and functional which is a refreshing change in the industry.
"These well-designed garments are largely unavailable because the retail outlets haven’t expanded on their stock range to include these innovative pieces.
"If the fashion industry, as a whole, is serious about inclusivity, there needs to be greater cohesive effort here," she said.
While the label is praising of agencies such as Zebedee (UK), All Is For All (NZ), The-Right-Fit (AU), Gamut Talent Agency (USA) and Starting With Julius (AU), it wants to see disabled models represented across a wider scope of agencies.
The business is accepting submissions for disabled female models.