Faduma’s Fellowship launched their first adaptive-wear collection designed by fellowship award-winner Harriet Eccleston during the recent London Fashion Week.
Faduma Farah, who was rendered paralysed from the neck down at 34 years old, founded the fellowship in 2021 to address the lack of choice for disabled people by sponsoring the creation of adaptive-wear collections. The collection features design innovations including magnetic buttons, relocated pockets, breathable fabric and hidden seams. Six wheelchair models rolled down the runway in style.
There are 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK and yet the availability of wheelchair user friendly fashion is often overlooked. This show addressed this problem with unique pieces in fresh colors for spring. Standout pieces included a fuchsia two piece suit with an adaptive friendly waistband and a camel colored coat suitable for a wheelchair user to stay warm on the go.
The foundation’s purpose is to inspire designers, design educational institutions, the fashion industry as a whole and the media that covers it to see, acknowledge and embrace wheelchair users. So that all wheelchair users can participate in, and see themselves rightly reflected in, this joyful aspect of our shared cultural life.
The show closed to a roaring crowd and an emotional speech from Faduma Farah reminding the world that wheelchair users matter.
Notable guests included Her Excellency, Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland QC, Influencer and Disability advocate Sarah Barlondo, Lady Mary Dawson and editors from Business of Fashion and Sunday Times.