6 Adaptive Fashion Brands Making Accessibility Chic

In continuation of its efforts to be a more inclusive brand, Victoria's Secret expands into developing garments for people with disabilities as it has introduced its first-ever adaptive intimates line. The brand launched the initiative at New York Fashion Week in September 2023 during the Runway of Dreams fashion show. The collection includes the brand's best sellers that are reinterpreted with adjustable and disabled-friendly features. This includes bras and panties with magnetic closures instead of the traditional hook and eye clasp, sensory-friendly fabric, and front strap adjusters.

Designer Izzy Camilleri pioneered stylish adaptive fashion. For decades prior to creating her brand IZ Adaptive, Camilleri had been designing for a celebrity clientele, dressing the likes of Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie, and David Bowie. In 2004, after creating a custom piece for a wheelchair user client, the designer saw a need for making beautiful garments accessible to everyone. Since that time, IZ Adaptive has been at the forefront of adaptive fashion, catering to a wide range of abilities. Camilleri’s designs grant her customers' fashion freedom—comfort, ease, and inclusivity without sacrificing style.

323’s colorful collections reflect the vibrant personality of its founder, Jillian Maddocks: quirky and inclusive with a sense of humor. Neurodivergent and chronically ill herself, Maddocks understood the need for accessible clothing that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The label’s latest Spring/Summer 2023 collection is a grandma-chic midway point between maximalist eccentricity and tasteful minimalism. Crafted with both sensory needs and sustainability in mind, vintage quilted blankets are repurposed into pants. Other upcycled materials like insulation foam, plastic bottle caps, and eco-shag fur are reimagined with avant-garde cutouts and on-trend accent bows. Size, gender, and ability-inclusive, 323 is an ode to everyone.

There is a tremendous gap in the market for fashionable clothes tailored to the needs of little people—a space recognized by adaptive fashion designer Sema Gedik. Learning firsthand about the difficulties in finding clothes from her cousin Funda, a little person, Gedik sought to promote equal access in the fashion industry. Her brand, Auf Augenhoehe, creates modern garments, such as sporty bomber jackets and playful maxi skirts, while remaining responsive to her customers’ needs through regular surveys and workshops. Drawing upon an ethos of inclusion, each Auf Augenhoehe garment ensures effortless wear through a focus on size and fit.

Growing up with brothers on the autism spectrum, Vongai “Von” Noreen Ruzive has long understood the importance of making function fashionable. From wrap skirts to detachable trousers, her namesake brand Von Ruz creates elevated womenswear garments for everyday dress. The brand’s best-selling detachable blazer tastefully accommodates accessibility needs, such as a prosthetic arm, while remaining stylish on typically abled women as well. Von Ruz’s innovative design approach goes beyond "adaptive fashion," instead aiming to uplift women of all abilities.

If the beauty of luxury fashion cannot be visually experienced, it can be felt. This was the concept behind adaptive fashion designer Alexa Jovanovic's braille-embellished clothing. Her brand, Aille Design, pronounced like “eye,” creates fashion that the blind can “see.” Each piece features functional phrases that describe the items in detail, complete with color, textile, fit, and care content. Turning braille into art, Aille Design works to dismantle social stigmas while empowering a group largely overlooked within mainstream fashion.