From constrictive corsetry to blistering 6in heels, the oft-quoted line: “You have to suffer for fashion,” has afflicted humanity for centuries (however much it seems alien to our current wardrobe of Zoom-friendly sweatpants). But what happens when even a simple garment is disabling? Or when suffering for fashion is not a stylistic choice, but an everyday reality that can affect someone’s quality of life?
For many disabled people, off-the-peg clothes are inaccessible and cause discomfort, from fiddly buttons to seams that chafe in a wheelchair. “Clothing plays an important part in living well,” says Monika Dugar, the co-founder of Reset with Usha Dugar Baid, an adaptivewear brand that launched at a virtual event during London fashion week. “Due to restricted mobility, clothing choices can impact whether people with disabilities can operate functionally.”
Inspired by Dugar’s father, who has Parkinson’s disease, the first Reset collection fuses op-art prints with solution-based design; think jackets with Velcro closures and a polo neck with easy-entry shoulder fastenings. “Every garment has to make a statement; a statement where design and functionality merge,” says Dugar. “We go through multiple stages of prototypes, testing and feedback.”
Megami make bras for women who have undergone mastectomies. [...]