Study on how everyday clothing could be made fashionable and easy to wear for people who use wheelchairs.
2010
Co-creation
Medical device design
Soft goods design
We studied people with 3 types of spinal cord injuries to understand some of the motor and sensory impairments they experience and what that means for day-to-day activities like getting dressed.
Most clothing designs do not consider the needs of people with motor and sensory restrictions, making it difficult for them to wear.
For this study, we focused on people with thoratic and lumbar paraplegia.
Her experiences and expertise helped guide us on how we could solve problems.
Some people have to place clothing on the bed before sleeping in order to get dressed.
You often have to slide back and forth while lifting yourself up.
Some people prefer putting clothes on their beds and some prefer sitting down.
In a sitting position, long coats don’t hold its intended shape, causing more effort to straighten the coat.
Gloves designed for wheelchair users are often utilitarian and not fashionable.
Gloves or hand protectors are usually worn to avoid getting your hands dirty.
We explored construction methods, made patterns, and repurposed from existing clothing. Note that we are not fashion designers by trade so we had to be creative in our approach.
This allows the user to sit down on the pants without the material shifting around much.
The feet are placed into the pants then zipped up.
The construction of the coat lays flat to the body. There’s also a detachable panel to make your coat longer if desired.
Designed to protect your wrist from getting dirty. The hand wrap is adjustable with hook and loop to conform with multiple sizes.
2010