Article
Before my spinal cord injury, I was a lawyer with my own practice who adored fashion. Clothing was my confidence in the courtroom and my creative outlet everywhere else. After a car accident in 2001 left me a quadriplegic, paralysed from the chest down with completely paralysed hands, I not only lost my mobility, but also my identity and the freedom to express myself through fashion.
The clothing available to people like me was clinical and spiritless.
It signalled limitation rather than life. I remember going to lunch with my husband, Rob, and the waitress asked him what I would like to order. I could practise law in the High Court of Australia, yet I could not order lunch! What we wear shapes how the world sees us and underestimates our worth and the contribution we can make.
I began designing clothes that protected my skin from pressure sores, addressed temperature regulation, and included discrete openings for catheters and colostomy bags, along with magnetic zips and buttons. Imagine, the concept of the button hole dates from 13th century Europe and the design of which had pretty much stayed the same mainstream since. We were well overdue for a change.
Practical function paired with beauty. Sequins, colour, boldness.
The reaction from the disability community fuelled my desire to keep problem solving. Every garment was a conversation that said you matter!
In 2019 my designs opened a runway event for Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane. It was the first time an all visible disability cast of models featured on a national runway and it was also the first time magnetic zips and buttons featured in an Australian runway collection. This was a game changer and put a well overdue spotlight on the issue of adaptive fashion. In 2022 designs I created appeared on Australia’s first adaptive runway at AfterPay’s Australian Fashion Week in Sydney.
My mission is to keep educating mainstream fashion on the importance of inclusion.
We deserve choice. We deserve style. We deserve to be seen for who we are!