Disability x Fashion: Adaptive Clothing for Every Body

CfD Conversations: Disability x Fashion: Adaptive Clothing for Every Body

Center for Design

Thursday, Nov. 6, from 12-1:30 p.m.

Design for disability usually means prosthetics and assistive technology, but clothing is crucial gear for making the world more accessible. Raincoats and backpacks for wheelchair users, pull-on tops for limited dexterity, one-handed zipper pulls: these ideas and so many more come to life in designer Grace Jun's longtime work in industry, academia, and in between. Join CAMD professor and host Sara Hendren to hear about the clothing, design research, and how-to processes that Jun has pioneered and documented in her 2025 book, Fashion, Disability, and Co-Design: A Human-Centered Design Approach. Jun will also talk about her work as founder of Open Style Lab, an innovative nonprofit that makes accessible fashion for everyone.

This event will be hybrid. If you want to attend virtually, register here.

Moderator:

Sara Hendren: Artist, Design Researcher, and Writer on Disability and Design; Associate Professor, Art + Design and Architecture, CAMD

Speakers:

Grace Jun: Researcher, Writer, Designer and Speaker on Accessibility in Graphic Design and Fashion; Associate Professor, University of Georgia; Founding Member, Open Style Lab

Gabby Garcia: Creative Technologies Lab Coordinator, Media Studios Organization, CAMD

Image credits for the graphic:

BreastCancer_Jacket_womens_GraceJun.jpg
Models are Karen Chan and Jasmine Oh
Photography by Alex Tosti

(This is the garment design Jun created with sensors and smart fabrics for women with breast cancer, which is now in the permanent collection and being featured at the FIT Museum this October.)

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Host or Publisher Center for Design at CAMD