We know that roughly 20% of the Australian population has a disability. So why is this huge market share being ignored by fashion brands? Disability advocate Lisa Cox reveals three ways brands can do better.
The fashion industry is known for being exclusive.
In bygone eras, expensive designer attire and accessories were exclusively for the wealthy.
Only early on in the 1900s was costume jewellery fashionable enabling more inclusivity across social classes.
Now, roughly a century later a lot has changed.
We’re seeing diverse cultural groups featured in fashion shows and advertising campaigns.
We’re even seeing designer clothing ranges tweak their mainstream designs so that they can be worn by many in the disability community.
Is that enough?
Is it time we ask the fashion industry to make a more concerted effort at inclusion, and, if so, what would that actually look like?
Here are three significant points that can be improved.
1. Making inclusive fashion available in retail stores
It’s great to see the rise in inclusive fashion and other fashions adapted for the disabled consumer.
Labels like Christina Stephens are both fashionable and functional which is a refreshing change in the industry.
This effort is commendable but thus far it hasn’t translated into real change for disabled consumers.
These well-designed garments are largely unavailable because the retail outlets haven’t expanded on their stock range to include these innovative pieces.
Ordering online isn’t always practical. If able-bodied people can fit the garments before they buy them, disabled people should too.
If the fashion industry, as a whole, is serious about inclusivity, there needs to be greater cohesive effort here.
2. Brands must cast off more palatable diversity and put some muscle into real change
Diversity appears to be an on-again-off-again trend for the fashion industry, however, it’s what society (and consumer bases) will continue to look like long after it’s not in season any more.
Periodically, there’s a surge of dark-skinned models in advertising and before you know it, it’s phased out again.
An example of this came during the Black Lives Matter protests.
Studies showed that the skin tone of models in advertising became darker during this period but returned to lighter shades once the protests and public interest died down.
Yet despite commendable changes in the size, colour and sexuality of models over the years, the representation of disability continues to be a far less palatable and thus absent ‘type’ of diversity across the fashion industry, be it on the runway, in advertising, marketing or even store mannequins.
3. Grasp the difference between diversity and inclusion
Diversity tends to come and go with the seasonal trends.
Sometimes it’s fashionable to create the illusion that a label is woke and showcasing diversity on the runway.
But being truly inclusive means more than simply putting one model who is disabled, dark-skinned, plus-sized or something
else in a single advertisement.
Inclusion refers to a far more literal change of policy and approach.
Think of it as a more holistic and long-lasting industry overhaul rather than a seasonal runway trend alone.
It shows the fashion industry reinventing the runway, retail experience or garment design to facilitate disability and other types of diversity.
It sees fashion lines designed around fashion and function - such as replacing buttons with invisible magnets or velcro for easy dressing.
Or simply removing the sizing tag on garments can prevent unnecessary irritation for someone with Autism.