Michelle Mckim- MA Fashion Design Technology
Interwoven Community - Disability in fashion and fibre arts
“Disabled people don’t need fashion” - or rather, that’s what the world wanted everyone to believe, but to be clothed is to be human and self expression is an art form we all deserve to participate in.
We’re a part of the creative community, we’re the greatest group of change-makers, problem solvers and advocates, and we form the biggest minority that anyone can become a part of, at any point in their lives. But society still chooses to exclude us, and exclusion is a weapon that fuels ignorance, erases the history and culture of our communities and builds barriers that need to be broken.
Disabled people have valuable things to share with the world and not only have their voices be heard, but to be given a place at the table, to lead that positive change - Because our lived experiences will fuel a better future where we can all coexist in a space that feels welcoming. In the words of disability rights activist, Alice Wong - “We have something the world needs” but the world, perhaps is yet to appreciate and acknowledge this.
My project "Interwoven Community" is a celebration of Disabled Joy and fibre art as a form of therapy, a slightly unexpected path for this project, which was shaped by my own health worsening over the past year which lead me to explore new art forms as a way of coping with my mental health and overcoming new challenges. This project is a conitnuation from my adaptive BA collection - exploring more ways in which we can design playful and vibrant garments for all sorts of needs and disabilities and make disabled and chronically ill people feel confident in their own bodies.
My capsule collection “inner soul” is a celebration of the disabled community. It’s more than just clothing, it’s about giving people back their confidence, to be themselves unapologetically. It’s about making disabled and chronically ill people feel seen and included by designing garments that work with their needs, not against them. Every small detail and design decision was made with purpose. Function becomes fashion and fashion becomes function.
In this collection I dedicated my focus to making clothes more accessible to people with stomas, by designing a pair of adaptive trousers that can be adjusted based on comfort and how full the users stoma bag is, and a set of stoma bag covers designed to be leakproof thanks to fabric bonding and hot taping the seams. I also wanted to add other accessiblity features such as pull loops for easier dressing, front facing fastenings that are easier to reach and modular elements for people who need arm access or have a limb difference. I also developed a tactile label to help Blind and low vision individuals style and care for their garments by using different 3D printed icons and QR codes linked to audio, as I feel that most fashion brands tend to forget about this demographic in particular, and many people can't read braille.
This project started at a very challenging point in my own journey with chronic illness and disability - my joint pain and instability had been worsening for several months and created barriers I had to find creative ways to overcome. Due to a new pain medication, my abiliy to work safely with the machinery in our studios, became very limited - the very machinery I relied on to complete my work. So I decided to learn to knit, having already learned to crochet and spin my own yarn a few months earlier. I found that knitting gave me a sense of calm - I would take my knitting with me to hospital appointments to help me manage my anxiety, and I found that it didn't trigger my wrist pain as much as crochet, and I created a piece that I'm sure would resonate with many in the disabled and chronically ill community. - My hope is that one day mainstream brands will start taking notes on what disabled people need and not only design for us, but design with us. Nobody deserves to feel left out, and when you design for disability, you design something that everyone can wear.
