These Are the Designers Working Hard to Make Stylish Clothes for Wheelchair Users

In December, Kylie Jenner appeared on the cover of Interview magazine. At first glance, the photo shoot was nothing out of the ordinary — provocative posing, latex lingerie and heavy makeup.

But Jenner was also sitting in a wheelchair in the cover photo, and that was cause for concern for more than a few viewers, who fired off tweets and first-person essays. Arguably the most powerful rebuttal came from 24-year-old Erin Tatum, who recreated the image herself and posted it on Tumblr.

"I can barely get people to make eye contact with me, let alone land a cover shoot," Tatum, who uses a wheelchair because she has cerebral palsy, wrote. "If being in a wheelchair is trendy now, I've apparently been a trendsetter since Kylie was born."

Jenner's editorial struck a nerve with those like Tatum, who experience wheelchairs not as a glamorous accessory but as a necessary device that comes with social stigma and a slew of practical problems — including what clothing to wear.

Finding the right clothing is a challenge that people who don't use wheelchairs might not consider. But it is among the very real everyday problems that people who use wheelchairs face. Now, there are clothing designers making "seated fashion" to help address it.

What makes seated fashion different: In 2004, fashion designer Izzy Camilleri, who has designed for the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Meryl Streep, was approached by a prolific Toronto journalist who used a wheelchair because she was quadriplegic. The woman wanted a cape specially made for when she takes her dog on walks.

To create a cape that would work for the woman, Camilleri told Mic, she had to consider what exactly people who use wheelchairs need from their clothes, which need to be comfortable for sitting for an extended period of time in an enclosed space.

picture: www.queenieaustralia.com/formal-dresses

Camilleri took those specifications into account and continued making clothes for the journalist for the next five...