To highlight the need for adaptive fashion design, the spinal muscular atrophy community has partnered with the non-profit organization Open Style Lab to develop a runway show called Double Take. The show will take place on September 8 at 10 am at 608 Fifth Avenue in New York.
SMA is a progressive neuromuscular disease that can affect walking, dexterity, and general strength, making clothing with certain closures, cuts, fits, and weights inaccessible.
Double Take is the first ever fashion show to engage the AME community from start to finish, from conceptualizing the message, to collaborating on clothing designs, to walking and rolling the runway leading up to New York Fashion Week. York, and is dedicated to all people living with a disability. .
The program seeks to allow people with disabilities to occupy a space that is often closed to them, and the SMA community is inviting the world to do a “double take” not because of their disabilities but because of their style and individuality.
Prior to the show, Open Style Lab adaptive fashion design interns, some of whom also have disabilities, worked with members of the SMA community to create and modify garments, according to each participant’s personal style and needs. of the catwalk. Garments feature hidden magnetic closures to create the look of buttons without the challenge of fastening. There are also stretch fabric panels instead of zippers, flexible sleeves to make it easier to maneuver the wheelchair, and other adaptations.
Support for Double Take was provided by biotech company Genentech’s SMA My Way program, which is an initiative that aims to support people affected by SMA by sharing their experiences and building connections within the community. Genentech, which discovers, develops, manufactures and markets medicines to treat patients with serious and life-threatening medical conditions, is a member of the Roche Group, based in South San Francisco, California.
“Thanks to Genentech’s support, Double Take gave me the opportunity to explore forward-thinking fashion design that includes people of all abilities. I’ve collaborated with several people living with spinal muscular atrophy to co-create accessible clothing that fits both their personalities and individual needs, including Shane Burcaw, who has SMA and uses a power wheelchair. To adapt a purple velvet suit for Shane, I added an invisible zipper to the back of the jacket, for easier dressing, and stretch panels at the elbows to accommodate flexing. The tailored velvet pants had two layers: a comfortable L-shaped bottom and an interchangeable cover that goes on top,” said Andrea Saieh, Open Style Lab 2022 Fellow at Double Take.
“For a person with spinal muscular atrophy, who is sitting all the time, suit jackets can be difficult to put on and scruffy, very unattractive. We ended up getting a suit tailored for our wedding, and it looked amazing, but it was still hard to wear. For the Double Take project, which was sponsored by Genentech, we worked with adaptive fashion designers to create a suit that not only looked great, but was also comfortable and much easier to wear. Ultimately, Double Take is about celebrating differences, not trying to erase them. Fashion allows you to do that – embrace the things that make you different,” said Shane Burcaw, who will model on the runway with his wife, Hannah.
Source: wwd.com