Fashion for All Clothing Line for the ‘Forgotten Audience’

Designers Rebecca and Melissa Everett have launched a disability-friendly clothing line aimed at fashion’s “forgotten audience.” Their collection utilizes magnets and hooks instead of traditional zips and buttons, making dressing easier for everyone.

The Manchester students, both 22, collaborated with Caron McLuckie, whose son uses a wheelchair and struggled to dress like his peers. The sisters hope to pitch their line to retailers, with the goal of making “everybody feel good and confident.”

Caron McLuckie reached out to Manchester Metropolitan University after her 17-year-old son, Emile, who suffered a spinal cord stroke at 14, struggled to find suitable clothing. She explained, “I tried adapting clothing myself because I couldn’t find anything appropriate on the high street. The tops are often not long enough or wide enough, and the trousers aren’t high enough—available options just don’t fit.”

As a result, she and the MA Fashion Business students began collaborating with the Stroke Association to create adaptive garments. Rebecca noted that the design process deepened their understanding of the challenges people face when trying to find clothing or dressing independently.

“Fashionable adaptive garments should be available on the high street at an affordable price to meet the needs of a large but overlooked audience,” she emphasized.

In addition to innovative fastening methods, the designs also incorporate wider fittings, larger cuffs, and diagonal trouser openings to accommodate catheter users.

Rebecca shared their plans to pitch their range to fashion retailers, stating, “Considering the vast amount of clothing being mass-produced on the high street, it’s hard to believe that a whole demographic is still being overlooked. Fashionable adaptive garments should be available at affordable prices to meet the needs of this large but forgotten audience.”

Caron McLuckie expressed her enthusiasm for the project, saying, “It’s really exciting. It’s taken a couple of years to reach this point, but the next step is to assemble a capsule wardrobe and sell it online.”