Inclusive and accessible Fashion - a Talk with Claire Common

This is the transcript of the German-language podcast. All errors and inaccuracies are my faults.

Domingos: So welcome to a new podcast on digital accessibility. Today I have another exciting guest

, Claire Common. Claire deals with the topic of accessible fashion. We'll find out what that is from her in a moment, but first thank you for taking the time for the podcast. Please introduce yourself.

Claire's background

Claire: My name is Claire and I'll describe myself. I'm 28, live in Mannheim and have a tousled, curly head who seems to be always wandering around and always has 10,000 ideas in my head And overlook most people overlook because my thoughts are always somewhere else, so if someone sees me, please speak to me..

To be honest, that describes me pretty well, because. Yes, I think. That it is super important to deal with topics that take you out of your comfort zone a little. And that's how I actually came to this topic. The topic of inclusion, accessibility, because I personally don't have a disability and... But I still deal with it and am very committed to it and actually studied fashion and always brought in very exciting topics that had anything but to do with fashion, but really social issues. And my goal is to educate with fashion, so to speak, to make topics more tangible and not like in a frontal class where someone stands at the blackboard and explains something to you, where you're not listening anyway, but that you suddenly have something in your hand, can feel something, can sense something, can smell something, etc. And simply get a different emotional connection to the topic, that's me.

Domingos: What exactly do you learn when you study fashion? Is it design, or something else?

Claire: Exactly, so that's what design is mainly about. We actually say that we study fashion and not fashion design, because fashion actually comes from the Latin mode and is a mirror of society, so to speak. What does that mean? Socially relevant topics influence us, creative designers, and we then translate that into a textile language. At least that is how it is understood at the university I studied at, which is Pforzheim, the university. And that is why we approach it very creatively. We really do the topic of painting, but also sculpture, we do a lot with our hands and let things come into being and of course sew everything ourselves, but we also let new materials come into being by putting things together that perhaps don't belong together at first glance, to simply show that there are no limits here, there is no normal, and that has actually influenced me from the very beginning.

Claire's path to inclusive and accessible fashion

Domingos: Interesting. And how did you get to the topic of inclusive and accessible fashion? Did you have a key experience or was there another event related to it?

Domingos: How do you came to the topic accessible fashion?

Claire: Actually, it's always the most frequently asked question because everyone is always so interested. And it's just such a boring answer. It was just a newspaper article that got me thinking and this newspaper article was about a football team whose teammates had lost a leg and the sport helped them to build up more self-confidence through team spirit because they were just among themselves and could support each other. And that's when I noticed that I care about many diversity characteristics, such as the issue of migration background or social background or the LGBT plus scene. But I've simply never really dealt with the issue of disability. It wasn't that I ignored people or gossiped about them or made any kind of judgment. But I never included them and I actually didn't like that and realized, no, I want to change that. That's how it started.

What does accessible fashion mean?

Domingos: What does accessible fashion actually mean? So why does clothing have to be accessible and for whom does clothing have to be accessible, why is that even relevant?

Claire: Well, I think that this is greatly underestimated. I think it is the same with spatial and digital accessibility. A lot of people benefit from it, in my opinion there are several levels that affect the topic of fashion.

On the one hand, we have the issue of putting on and taking off or being taken off, for example if you have an assistant, but that's where it starts, when you have some kind of sore muscles after doing sports and then it's really hard to get into your jacket because it's much too tight. That's when the first click actually came. And then of course it continued. A friend of mine has spasticity and it's not that easy for him to get into clothes because his muscle tone is of course much higher. And then you really start to think, OK, which fabrics do I need to choose, which fastening technology do I need to choose if the fine motor skills are not as developed as with others. That means do I have magnetic buttons, do I have an extra tab on the zipper? Can I use such things at all, am I allowed to use buttons at all and that is the first thing.

And then in my opinion it goes on to the topic of cut, which is the shape of a piece of clothing, so to speak, which means that when I am sitting in a wheelchair. And my T-shirt is a normal length, it is noticeable, for example, that the whole fabric is puffed up at the front of the stomach. That means that the operation changes, the stomach becomes much more voluminous, as does the whole upper body, and makes the legs appear even more painted, that means that we not only have the practical background here, but also the visual background, and in my opinion it is simply about accessible appearance and I think that is also very relevant. And then in my opinion it is also a very important point in fashion. Sure, I can of course send it home, but what if I can't send the items back easily or what happens if I'm more of a retail person? Can I go into any normal department store with a wheelchair or a cane and get good advice? That's the third and final level for me, which is really important, because here I can feel or sense what color it is or what the cut is like, does it really suit me? And these are topics that of course require a bit more detail.

Joint development process

Domingos: When you develop such items of clothing, you do it together with people with disabilities. What is the process? How can does it work?

Claire: Mhm, well, that was actually the very first step I took back then. I read this newspaper article, it was a Thursday and I remember very clearly that I sat down on Friday and realized, OK, this is the topic I want to deal with, I did some research and. It's called the Rhein Neckar Accessibility Working Group and they're based here in Mannheim and, as I said, they pay close attention to ensuring that public places, the tram, etc. are really accessible and that they really take a lot of dimensions into account.

And I simply wrote to them and said, Hello, I'M Claire, I had the idea of dealing with the topic of inclusion and accessibility, but I have no idea. Can we meet sometime? And then the manager at the time actually met with me in the café and answered every question I had and that was just a lovely, lovely experience because I realised that I don't have to be afraid of asking questions, of course I have to ask them respectfully, but I can really just ask because the person I'm talking to appreciates that I'm interested, that I'm curious, that I want to know how this person is doing in their everyday life.

And so it started, I made lots of contacts and met these people regularly, asked questions like, what bothers you about the clothes you have in your closet or what is your favourite product and why is it your favourite product, what has to feel good, what is important.

And then topics came out, like that. That when you sit for a long time, because of a wheelchair for example, your kidneys cool down very quickly if the product is too cold at the back, but all these wrinkles form at the front. That's how it came about, then I just started cutting wildly and made the first products and then gave them to test. I then spent a few hours with the people. They wore them. And we looked at what was practical, what were the sleeves too long, do they get caught in the tire or is it then stupid with a cane because you can't grip anymore because the loop gets caught or whatever?

We then explored a lot of topics a bit and then I put together a detailed catalog, so to speak, which proved to be successful and from that came the important details that later found their place in the products.

Domingos: Yes, super exciting. And yes, very complex too. So how is it for you and for the participants, is it exhausting or do you enjoy it?

Claire: Well, I hope that everyone enjoys it. Well, I have to admit, it wasn't that easy for me at the very beginning because I simply noticed that this is a field that we never spoke about during our studies and it's a real shame because once you make the effort. As a company, you can simply reach a lot more people and offer a lot more people the opportunity to realize their potential because you also have to admit that for many people, fashion and communication are ways of showing who they are, what they're like, what's important to them, etc.

And then it's a shame if not everyone can take part and that's why it was a difficult thing for me mentally at the very beginning, but it was just fun with the people, they're just so warm. Of course they shared their stories with me, and I sat there and asked myself how evil this world can actually be and how condescendingly people can treat other people.

And yes, I think it was more the personal stories at the end that touched you a little emotionally, but it's actually really fun, we do a kind of fashion show. Try something out, people look so curiously, come over and ask questions and suddenly there's a much bigger exchange and that makes it exciting.

Why should clothes be fashionable

Domingos: That sounds great. A somewhat heretical question. It makes sense that clothes have to be accessible. But why should they be fashionable?

Claire: Actually, I always like to answer with a situation that you can easily imagine at school, which some people may have experienced, that if you didn't wear a certain style or certain brands, you were laughed at or teased by your fellow people, and that is definitely not a nice feeling and the saying that clothes make the human is unfortunately somehow true.

And just as I just said, for many people fashion is a means of expression by which they show themselves, because they may also be strange, for example, and that is their opportunity to express themselves and show that I see colors, I like patterns, I can combine great things, and that creates such beautiful things and that is why I simply think that fashion, above all accessible and inclusive clothing, should also be fashionable, because there are so many young women and men out there who value appearance and who don't want to stand out.

That means, of course, a wheelchair is an indication that you have a physical disability, but sometimes you just want to be like everyone else and be fashionable in some way and I can understand that to a certain extent and you just don't want to always be the odd one out or somehow different in a room and. That's just a way of doing it, hence accessible fashion.

Follow Claire

Domingos: Where can you be followed when somebody is interested in the topic?

Claire: Exactly, I'm actually on Instagram, but I keep noticing that I come up against a few hurdles there, including when it comes to the topic of accessibility. I'm always quite active there reporting on my everyday life, including what I'm doing at the moment. That I'm trying out new things, for example, or something like that.And then I am very active on LinkedIn because I think it is very important to exchange ideas with other people. Because I didn't even mention that earlier. I also have inclusive production, which means that my products are made by people with disabilities in an inclusion workshop and it was very, very important to me that the people were required to have insurance in the primary labor market, to simply show, to a certain extent, hey, people with disabilities can do just as much as people without disabilities and just because you have a disability doesn't mean that people can perform less or are worse. And I am also very committed to this topic and I just wnt to educate people and show companies that inclusion and an inclusive team really are a success factor because suddenly you see multiple perspectives and as a result products become more complex and special, for example, and that is ultimately just exciting for the end customer. And that's why I'm on LinkedIn too. And a friend and I, Bastian. We actually have a podcast that is available everywhere, and you can get to know us a little bit there, because we talk about everyday topics and show the perspective of a person with a disability, and the perspective of a person without a disability, for example, talking about topics like how to cook when you have spasticity or demonstrating how important it is to work for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, etc.