I had the pleasure of interviewing Vogue contributing editor and one of the most influential women in fashion, Sinéad Burke. Whilst we covered many topics including Sinéads college life (it's a great read!) I got an even greater knowledge of how the fashion industry can be harder to access for people with disabilities. This post deals with how fashion can have an impact.
As one of the founders of the Inclusive Fashion and Design Collective, Sinéad established it as “an organisation to bring together the voices of disabled people to challenge the fashion industry” and although she is no longer part of it Sinéad is happy to see that people are talking about and raising issues concerning fashion in relation to disabled people.
In an interview with Business of Fashion Sinéad mentioned that there are 1.2 billion disabled people in the world with a monetary bracket of up to 6.9 trillion dollars yet the fashion industry often doesn't design with them in mind, Sinéad had this to say about why the fashion industry doesn't design for these people
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Suffering from achondroplasia Sinéad sometimes shops in the children's sections of stores as they will require fewer alterations and it can cost less than high-end designs but she went on to say “I miss out if there's something that I really want in women's wear, it isn't available or would require too much deconstruction to do, it can be frustrating” however she acknowledged that designers are now mirroring their womenswear into their childrenswear which is a great stepping stone for little people who may face the same problems as Sinéad.
From that she brought up that usually only the staples are made e.g a jacket, blazer, shirt, wrap dress and A-line dress, which is good because it means there are options however these options can be costly and so this is what Sinéad proposed “ we need technology like 3D printing and sell patents rather than selling individual garments” as this will allow for much more customization when it comes to peoples needs.
Sinéad explained she invests more in people rather than designs so people like Christopher Kane who’s incredibly kind, Richard Malone who’s incredibly talented. Brands that have shaped culture like Thom Browne, Versace and Burberry who customized a garment for Sinéad. No shade to any designers reading this who weren't mentioned, she loves you all.
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One of the best moments of 2018 for Sinéad was attending the Pyer Moss show in Brooklyn in which she had this to say about the power that fashion can have
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As far as her style inspo, that feat goes to Karla Welch who has the likes of Tracee Ellis Ross, Catriona Balfe, Ruth Negga amongst many others on her client list going on to say “I'm fascinated by how Karla and her team interact with her clients and then impact upon the fashion world.”
It was beyond an honour to meet her and hear about her life. Sinéad is truly an incredible person and as this post comes to an end I shall leave you with this great summary of Sinéads style that we could all take advice from “give me all of the print, all of the texture, all of the drama. Like it really depends on how I'm feeling and I use fashion as armour. I use it as a vehicle for confidence. I use it as a way in which to tell the world about myself. I use it as a way to hide. It really just depends on how I wake up, throwing on whatever I feel like or what's on the floor sometimes.”