Reporting for the Bedford Clanger, Elise Gray, Claire Crawford-Smith and Zoe Cooper of Living It Up attended the Unhidden fashion show at London Fashion Week last Thursday (19 September).
When Erica Roffe, the editor of the Bedford Clanger, asks if you would like to attend Unhidden’s Adaptive Fashion Show at London Fashion Week, you say yes!
Unhidden is an adaptive fashion brand, founded by Victoria Jenkins, who is fiercely breaking down barriers and reshaping the fashion industry for people living with disabilities and chronic health conditions.
Victoria has combined her strong understanding of how to build, design and create clothing with her passion, determination and acknowledgement of such a huge part of the population being underserved within the fashion industry.
Victoria’s brand has co-designed and launched an adaptive range in Primark, alongside becoming the first adaptive fashion brand to become a member of the British Fashion Council.
Whilst this was Unhidden’s third runway show, this year, Unhidden has made history by being the first inclusive, adaptive fashion brand to present during London Fashion Week’s main schedule.
This is a groundbreaking moment for both adaptive fashion and disabled models, and the powerful message of the show was both haunting and triumphant.
Unhidden began their presentation with the incredible Mallavora, delivering a resonating speech depicting the ongoing battle for Disability Rights as we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.
The haunting words “in thirty years…how far have we really come?” echoed across the room, followed by “enough is enough, disabled people fight back”, Unhidden showing loudly that this is not a tokenistic fashion range, but a barrier-shattering political fight hoping to make true change both country-wide and universally.
Unhidden showcased their powerful new clothing line, with slogans such as ‘Not a Burden’ in sequins ingeniously made from medicine blister packs. This range expressed disabled rage against societal attitudes whilst showcasing how beautiful accessible clothing is for both everyday fashion and elevated occasions.
On meeting Victoria, she told me she did not feel change “is happening fast enough”. I responded that butterfly effects are being felt in all areas of inclusion as a direct result of her fight to build an accessible, affordable, adaptive fashion brand.
People are finally being seen, heard and provisions are beginning to be made that are not just clinical but comfortable and creative. Evidence of this societal shift towards understanding the importance of inclusion has been shown this week as George in Asda announced their new line of adaptive clothing in memory of adaptive fashion advocate Nicola Newman. Victoria has started a momentum and it is gathering momentum.
Claire Crawford-Smith, Co-CEO and co-founder (with Fizz Helseltine) of Living It Up, a charity which provides social and educational opportunities for adults with learning disabilities and autism in and around Bedfordshire, said: “I loved attending the Unhidden fashion show.
“It was great to see the fashion world giving a platform to disabled models and showing us that adaptive clothing can also be stylish and fun. Even better is that these designs are available on the High Street, which makes it feel genuine and not tokenistic.”
Zoe Cooper said: “Last night I attended a fashion show in London, it was amazing. I have never been to anything like that before, and it really opened my eyes up and made me realise there is a whole other world out there that I have never been a part of before.”
The whole event felt electric, exciting and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
To be in a room with so many people who fight for Disability rights, inclusion, to be seen, heard and accepted was truly an honour.
I understand the long-term battle of fighting for inclusion, which was the spark for our Inclusive Performing Arts Festival. Events like this show us what is possible. Let’s keep pushing because change is happening.
by Elise Gray
Living It Up
