Fashion, Disability, and Co-design: A Human-Centered Design Approach
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Overview
Constricting styles and limited clothing choices can restrict a person with a disability from fully participating in social communities, employment and gatherings that have an unspoken dress code. Design has the power to change this.
Fashion, Disability, and Co-design shows how collaborative, inclusive design techniques can produce garments and accessories that increase social inclusion. Grace Jun outlines practical techniques to help designers create their own inclusive collections, with detailed examples from interviews with professionals. 14 illustrated case studies show how engagement with disability communities to co-design clothing and accessories can lead to functional, wearable
solutions for people of all abilities without compromising style.
Interviews:
- Inclusive Representation in Fashion Narrative & Design Process – Christina Mallon
- Understanding the Use of Materials – Angela Domsitz Jabara
- Human Factors and Occupational Therapy – Michael Tranquilli
- Interactive Garments and Textiles – Jeanne Tan
A designer's guide to making fashion inclusive of disability - with practical, collaborative techniques demonstrated through 14 illustrated case studies.
14 case studies show the collaborative design techniques used by award-winning Open Style Lab, including 'Ease' – a durable, seamless, and stylish T-shirt developed with and for an 11-year-old girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
200 color photographs illustrate the techniques discussed and help readers follow case studies from initial concept, through the development and prototyping phases right through to finished garments
Interviewees include zero waste pioneer Timo Rissanen, and wearable technology designer Chrissy Glover
Preface
Foreword: Sara Hendren, Associate Professor of Arts, Humanities and Design at the Olin College of Engineering
1. Introduction
The Value of Collaboration in Fashion Design
Adaptive Fashion
- Characteristics of Adaptive Fashion Designs
- Dressing Situations in Adaptive Fashion
- Dressing for Social Integration
- Dressing for Independent Living
- Dressing for Interdependent Living
- Dressing Aids and Assistive Tools
2. Theories, Models, and Methodologies behind Adaptive Fashion
Accessible Features in Existing Fashion Designs
Principles
Inclusive Design
Fashion Design
Processes, Models, and Methods
Process
- Co-design
Models
- Function, Environment, & Aesthetics (FEA)
- The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO)
- The Human, Activity & Assistive Technology Model (HAAT)
- Social Model of Disability
Method
- User-centered Design (UCD)
- Human Factors
3. Adaptive Fashion Design Approaches & Techniques
Adaptive Fashion Framework
- Guideline
- Project Objectives
- Observational Research
- Discussion and Interview Analysis
- Design Requirements
- Iterative Prototyping
- Design Evaluation
Application of Framework
Project Objectives
- Establishing a Common Form of Communication
- Making an Objective
Research
- Observing Dressing Behaviors
- Creating a User Journey Map
- Recognizing Existing Clothing Challenges
- Creating a Spatial Framework for User Range of Motion
Design requirements
- Define the problem
- Design Affordances
Iterative Prototyping
- Materials
- Textile Considerations
- Body Measurements
Techniques
Clothing Closures and Construction Techniques
Alteration Instructions
Conclusion and Design Evaluation
Inquiry Guide
Design Rubric
4. Adaptive Design Case Studies and Interviews
Case Studies
Interview: Inclusive Representation in Fashion Narrative & Design Process – Christina Mallon
Unparalleled
Midi-Rox
The Little Black Bag
Interview: Understanding the Use of Materials – contributor, Angela Domestiz Jabara
Trans-Skirt
Qxgo
Swipe
Interview: Human factors and Occupational Therapy – Michael Tranquelli
Just-In-Jacket
Ease
Modiste
Revolve
Interview: Interactive Garments and Textiles – Dr. Jeanne Tan
Versa Vest
Heating Mask
LIULID
Warmed Bomber
5. Conclusion
Increasing Visibility
Scaling Adaptive Fashion
Afterword: Steven Faerm, Associate Professor of Fashion at Parsons School of Design, The New School.
Acknowledgements
Resources
Annotations
Index
This is an invaluable book for anyone who is interested in adaptive fashion and the complexities of fashion design processes when considering users with disability needs.
Grace Jun's work shines a spotlight on adaptive fashion, demonstrating its potential to be both functional and desirable when co-designed with people with disabilities. Her book is more than just a practical guide; it's a compelling call to action for designers and brands to integrate inclusivity into their creations. A must-read for anyone committed to making the fashion industry truly accessible, sustainable, and empowering for all!
Grace is an extraordinary designer and scholar. Her work exploring how human-centered design and codesign processes can increase inclusion has been transformative for clients, students and collaborators. As a physical therapist, educator and researcher, I am excited to see this book and body of work take shape.
As a power wheelchair user who actively collaborated with designers on a unique jacket, I cannot stress enough the importance of this collaborative, human-centered design approach in producing a fashionable yet functional piece of clothing.
Grace Jun leads the way in teaching designers about disability and fashion and collaborating with people with disabilities and other experts on disability and participation ... [She] sees the importance of customization - all people with disabilities are not the same and many people, both disabled and not (or not yet), have the need for custom alterations or fabrication of garments.
In this breakthrough book, Grace Jun investigates the complex intersection of fashion and disability, illuminating the sweeping range of challenges that confront creators and consumers alike. With elegance and clarity, she offers a brilliant précis of the issues at stake, combining historical analysis, in-depth case studies, and assessments of real-world design to provide guidance and inspiration for future solutions. Essential reading, this book speaks forcefully to the ethical, moral, land social imperatives of ensuring that fashion is equitable for all, while making the business case for no longer overlooking a global marketplace of over 1.8 billion people.
- Title: Fashion, Disability, and Co-design: A Human-Centered Design Approach
- Author: Grace Jun
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 232
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350299566, 9781350299542, 1350299545, 1350299561
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350299566
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T12:12:03Z
Grace Jun is Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Georgia (UGA), USA, researching interdisciplinary design processes inclusive of disability, such as accessible interaction design and adaptive wearables. She is also a board member of Open Style Lab (OSL), a Smithsonian National award-winning nonprofit organization that aims to make style accessible for all people regardless of cognitive or physical disabilities. An inventor of two US design patents, Grace frequently serves on juries and committees that advance the arts & design.