For wheelchair users like me, who love fashion, ‘adaptive’ clothing has often been disappointingly dowdy. But Tommy Hilfiger and other high-end designers could change that.
After doing some custom work in the early 2000s for a client who was quadriplegic, Camilleri had her “eyes opened” to how existing clothing did not necessarily work for women using a wheelchair. For example, having a “seated frame” meant that many traditionally designed trousers rode down or dug into her client’s waist. At the time, “adaptive clothing” – clothes made with disabled people in mind – barely existed; when it did, it was not aimed at fashion-conscious young adults. “Most of what was out there were clothes for [older people] living in long-term care facilities,” Camilleri says. “I realised there was nothing for younger people. [I was] motivated to fill this void.”
In fact, Camilleri became so passionate about it that, in 2009, she released the revolutionary IZ collection, one of the world’s first fashion lines created for wheelchair users. Trousers do not ride down at the back or push on the wearer’s waist. Coats are cut so the customer can put them on while seated; they cover the thighs at the front, but reach only the seat of a person’s chair at the back, in order to avoid bunching.
Camilleri’s new range, IZ Adaptive, goes beyond the needs of wheelchair users to cater for those with a variety of disabilities. Trousers now come with horizontal pull-tabs at the side, waist and centre of the back, through which wearers with dexterity problems can slip their fingers to help them pull up the trousers without having to grip. They have elastic waists, too, negating the need for zips. Coats in the range have magnetic fastenings and pull-tabs on zippers.