UoF Launches Adaptive Style Collection

June 8, 2025

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Poster frames of UoF 5 lesson Adaptive fashion series College of Style launches their 5-part Adaptive Style Collection taught by Tracy Vollbrecht of Vollbrecht Adaptive Consulting (Picture courtesy: College of Style)

Do you know that there are extra clothes choices accessible for canine than there are for folks with disabilities? It took a very long time coming, however the vogue business is lastly addressing the wants of the incapacity neighborhood, which is understood in the present day as Adaptive Style.

Because of our knowledgeable Tracy Vollbrecht, the College of Style is launching its 5-part Adaptive Style sequence to assist educate the business within the Adaptive Style market. Our new sequence covers: the historical past adaptive vogue, methods to design & develop adaptive vogue and methods to merchandise and market product for the adaptive vogue shopper.

Tracy Vollbrecht of Vollbrecht Adaptive Consulting and College of Style teacher (Picture courtesy: Vollbrecht Adaptive Consulting)

Our sequence begins with the terminology used when referring to varied forms of disabilities. Ms. Vollbrecht additionally gives a downloadable Phrases and Definitions doc to assist perceive acceptable language and phrases used is that this specialised market section.

Molly Farrell, a white woman with brown hair, is shown in this photo wearing ULEX, one of the brands Tracy designed and helped launch. Molly is wearing a royal blue wrap cardigan and gray pants, while seated on bleachers. She is smiling brightly and her pink forearm crutches are visible in the photo.

Adaptive vogue designed by Tracy Vollbrecht for Yarrow featured on the Canadian TV present Style Dis (Picture courtesy: Tracy Vollbrecht)

Ms. Vollbrecht’s historical past of the adaptive market covers such innovators as Helen Cookman, who in 1955, started researching the market potential of adaptable clothes at New York College’s Institute of Bodily Drugs and Rehabilitation after being advisable for the position by New York Occasions fashion editor Virginia Pope. Cookman would spend the following 4 years growing a set known as Purposeful Fashions, which was a set of 17 objects designed to assist disabled folks costume independently. Nonetheless, Ms. Vollbrecht explains that upon the passing of Helen Cookman and Virginia Pope the purposeful vogue motion started to fade and was changed with clothes supposed to make dressing simpler for the aged. It wouldn’t be till 2004-2007 that The Adaptive Style Showroom and the corporate Wheeliechix-Stylish, based by Louisa Summerfield, got here into being and would take adaptive vogue to the following degree.

Monica Engle Thomas, a white woman with curly auburn hair, is shown in this photo wearing a white Yarrow sleeveless button down that Tracy designed. Monica sits in her black and white manual wheelchair. She also wears sunglasses and jeans, while holding the leash to her small dog.

Monica Engle Thomas sporting a white Yarrow sleeveless button down designed by Tracy Vollbrecht (Picture courtesy: Yarrow)

Tracy Vollbrecht Interview

UoF founder Francesc Sterlacci sat down with Tracy Vollbrecht to study why she grew to become fascinated by designing for the adaptive market and her ideas on the place the market is headed.

Francesca: Have been you formally educated as a dressmaker and if that’s the case, the place? What motivated you to pursue a profession in adaptive vogue?

Tracy: I’m! I graduated from Kent State College with a Bachelor of Tremendous Arts in Style Design. At Kent, I had the chance to conduct analysis on adaptive vogue, which was nonetheless in its second-wave infancy. I say second-wave as there was a primary wave of adaptive vogue within the 60s (take a look at the historical past of adaptive vogue lesson to study extra!). Inside the analysis I performed, I spoke to over 75 folks with various disabilities to study their challenges with clothes. My analysis culminated in a universally designed assortment proven at Kent’s annual vogue present, a broadcast analysis paper, and presenting my analysis at numerous conferences, together with the Worldwide Textile and Attire Affiliation’s annual convention. The work I did at Kent confirmed me that clothes challenges weren’t simply a difficulty my dad, who had MS, had skilled, however a difficulty that so many individuals face. This motivates me daily to proceed the work I do – clothes ought to enable everybody to specific themselves and really feel good, not simply a few of us.

Francesca: How in demand are designers with adaptive vogue experience? How did you join with the businesses that you’ve got designed for on this area?

Tracy: Sadly, adaptive vogue continues to be very a lot a distinct segment portion of the style business, which is what myself and others are working to vary. There isn’t a excessive demand for adaptive vogue designers but. I’m hopeful that the area of interest will develop and there can be extra demand for designers, merchandisers, consumers, entrepreneurs, and so forth with adaptive vogue expertise. The businesses I’ve labored with have both sought me out, had been referred to me, or that I related with them by means of community connections.

Francesca: Are you able to identify the businesses that you’ve got designed for and/or who you might be presently working for? Are their devoted on-line and brick & mortar shops solely promoting adaptive vogue?

Tracy: My first adaptive vogue position was with Juniper Limitless the place I designed and helped launch their manufacturers’ Yarrow and ULEX. In my consulting work with Vollbrecht Adaptive Consulting, I’ve developed coaching sources for Goal, taught lectures at IFA Paris, performed analysis for Open Model Lab, and extra. I can’t share who I’m working with in the meanwhile, however I’m positively excited for what’s to return! At this stage, adaptive vogue is sort of solely on-line. As we speak about in our merchandising lesson, on-line procuring has each execs and cons for the Disabled shopper. It’ll be nice to see manufacturers begin to carry adaptive merchandise in retailer, the place the consumer can discover them organically.

Francesca: What are the largest challenges in designing for folks with bodily challenges?

Tracy: The most important challenges for creating adaptive vogue are the range in wants and the style cycle. Inside the incapacity neighborhood and even inside the similar incapacity (bodily or not), there’s a lot selection in clothes wants, physique form, and challenges. No two disabilities are the identical, which is why it’s so essential for manufacturers to work with folks with disabilities. Nonetheless, the effort and time wanted to correctly develop clothes that truly works for all is at odds with the fast-fashion, development pushed nature of the style business presently.

Molly Farrell sporting a high designed by Tracy Vollbrecht from ULEX- one of many manufacturers she helped launch (Picture courtesy: ULEX)

Francesca: Do you see the adaptive market rising since corporations like Tommy Hilfiger and different large manufacturers have turn out to be extra inclusive?

Tracy: Positively! There may be a lot potential for manufacturers to faucet into the unmet wants of shoppers with disabilities. Simply because a couple of manufacturers have gotten into the area doesn’t imply there isn’t room for extra manufacturers, all manufacturers actually, to get into the market. There can be “sufficient” adaptive vogue when shoppers with disabilities have the identical quantity of selection in model, worth, and elegance as shoppers with out disabilities.

Francesca: What recommendation do you may have for our college students who could also be fascinated by designing adaptive vogue?

Tracy: My recommendation to any pupil is that adaptive vogue is extra than simply adaptive design. Each position inside the vogue business (merchandising, product improvement, shopping for, advertising, and so forth.) is required to verify adaptive vogue will get into the fingers of the buyer. If you are interested in adaptive vogue, pursue it! Observe Disabled creators on social media; keep updated on what manufacturers are doing; volunteer for vogue reveals. For designers particularly, adaptive vogue continues to be vogue. Getting expertise working for vogue manufacturers is important. For the reason that adaptive market continues to be rising and there aren’t many adaptive design roles, reap the benefits of studying the method of design and improvement for non-adaptive vogue as that course of nonetheless applies to adaptive vogue.