Chloe here! One of the last blogs I wrote for MDUK was a couple of years ago and called “vent about the vent” where I talked about the process I went through to accept the idea of having to use overnight ventilation. Well, a lot has happened since then!
Over the last couple of years I have been working as a journalist covering all sorts of stories for the BBC and more recently ITV, but this blog isn’t about that, either! It’s about fashion.
I went to a festival in the summer of 2017 and as you can imagine with it being in Britain, it was raining. Off the back of this event I designed a waterproof jumpsuit with ASOS, below, which took the fashion and media world by storm, I must admit. This was because it was designed with wheelchair users in mind, but anyone could wear it! Able bodied or disabled (excuse the terminologies). I was also the first wheelchair user to model for an online fashion company.
Social media went crazy for it, and it even ended up in high-end fashion magazines like Vogue! After all the mania around the jumpsuit, I started thinking about what other clothing needed to be adapted for people with disabilities, but keeping the same ethos of being inclusive not exclusive in mind.
I started working with the Princes Trust in Bristol, which helped me understand how businesses work and how to go about setting up my own company. It has taken a year of a lot of contemplating and hard work but now it’s time! It’s time for me to be able to say that I have launched an inclusive fashion brand making clothing suitable for people with varying disabilities – but anyone can wear it!
Labled’s mission is to be inclusive not exclusive, so whether you use a wheelchair, have a stoma bag, prosthetic leg or just want some comfier clothes that still look good, that is what Labled is for!
I launched the social media accounts and website last week in time for my TEDxBristol talk on Sunday here in Bristol, where I talked about the lack of inclusivity in fashion and what I decided to do about it.
Now, it's full steam ahead to have the first collection of inclusive clothing ready for people to purchase in spring/summer 2019!