Scrolling through Twitter the other day, I was surprised to see this tweet about fashion inclusivity and accessibility – something that I, as a newcomer to the disability community, had never considered as something that would have an impact on someone’s life. The tweet is by Chloe Ball-Hopkins, a Paralympic athlete and wheelchair user, who has been working with the clothing company ASOS to create a line of disability-friendly clothing. The tweet features their first collaboration – a “wheelchair-friendly” jumpsuit. Some features of the jumpsuit are:
- Jacket and trousers zip together
- Jacket and trousers are fully waterproof
- Hem is longer in the back – stops it from riding up
- Adjustable cuffs and sleeve length
- Waterproof zips
- Adjustable hood (asos.com)
The jumpsuit itself comes in a tie-dye design featuring pastel pinks, blues, and yellows with splashes of black, mint green, and magenta. The inside is lined with cotton and polyester and it is described as a “relaxed fit” jumpsuit. It costs £50 and can be bought online at asos.com. And hey, it’s pretty cute!
Ball-Hopkins tweeted the good news on her twitter, and it was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Within days, big-name magazines like Glamour and The Daily Mail were writing about her clothing line, followed by hundreds of avid and excited bloggers and people with disabilities eager to buy the jumpsuit.
[ID: Photo of Ball-Hopkins modeling the jumpsuit in her wheelchair. She is smiling and the photo is taken at an upward angle.]
The most fascinating thing to me, though, is that they included Ball-Hopkins herself in the campaign. It was specifically the image of her modeling her own jumpsuit that caught my eye. I’m amazed that ASOS was willing to begin this line of disability-friendly clothing and use a model in a wheelchair to model the clothing. ASOS is certainly proving itself a forerunner in opening the fashion market to consider accessibility and disability when designing clothing. It makes me proud to see a fellow member of the disability community modeling a line of inclusive design with such a high-power company, and I am so happy it is getting the media recognition it deserves so quickly. This campaign gives me hope that more fashion and clothing companies will follow suit to bring the world more disability representation.
