It all started with one pair of shoes. Something as simple as that had a profound symbolic meaning in my life. I’ve worn shoes every day, however I’ve never taken a step in them. The shoes I wear shouldn’t matter because, to be honest, I’m not using them right? However, every part of what we wear is a reflection of ourselves. Being a teenager means constantly following all the latest trends and seeing what our role models are wearing. I was no different.
I have always been a fan of the clothing lines of people like Travis Scott. If you know me personally, I’m the biggest Travis Scott fan there is, and naturally I loved his sneakers. The only problem was that they sold out in minutes and were reselling for a very expensive amount that no 18 year old could afford. So, one day, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and I saw that Brother Nature was doing a giveaway for the exact same sneakers. For those of you who don’t know who Brother Nature is, he went viral on Twitter for his comedic interactions with wildlife (Canela!). Anyways, I did all the things the giveaway required, including commenting under the post. I commented: “can’t even walk but these would look fresh on me!” When I got the notification on my phone from him I screamed so loud my mom thought I was getting murdered. I had won the shoes I dreamed of having.
This was my first push towards becoming a “sneakerhead”, as they call it. I posted it on my Twitter and received some interesting, yet funny comments. The comments included people saying things like “don’t wear out the tread!” and “have you had time to break them in yet?” While these comments made me laugh out loud at the time, I asked myself a question – why is a disabled person’s love of fashion and style a discussion point at all? Disabled people should be able to enjoy the same trends as able-bodied people without facing petty jokes. I assume some people were upset with the fact that someone in a wheelchair had won rare sneakers they couldn’t even walk in. Another reason why people may have felt this way is that they probably have never seen someone in a wheelchair sport the same fashion trends as someone like Travis Scott. I know I haven’t.
Why is a disabled person’s love of fashion and style a discussion point at all?
What I know we need is a space for disabled fashion. Normalizing disabled people wearing brands like Yeezy and Dior even though we rarely (if ever) see it in the mainstream. Everyone will have an opinion, but in the end disabled people have the same sneaker and fashion rights as others. I remember seeing a photo of a child in a wheelchair looking up to see someone like him on a poster at Target, but that needs to become a reality, not a fantasy. To start, the glass ceiling needs to be broken in high fashion like in magazines and commercials for the companies I mentioned before. The glass ceiling isn’t for just representation though. It can be applied to how companies price their products, make them available in stores or online, and social attitudes towards disabled fashion. Once we as a society move on and promote these examples, we will see a decline in ableist remarks about fashion and a more accepting environment where disability and fashion are discussed as one.
