Fashion Week being surprisingly off the beaten track is not a big big deal Most attendees or staff will mind, but it should. Since some venues are only accessible by stairs or narrow corridors, seating is often in the form of benches with no space for wheelchair users, and most invitations do not reveal these details, the performances are undoubtedly capable and exclusive of. Of course, these clothes tend to follow suit, as fashion models (with a few notable exceptions) wear their .
But this morning, in a ground floor space on Fifth Avenue, the Lab (OSL) with Spinal Muscle provided by biotech company Genentech and open-ended Aritzia The Atrophy (SMA) community has come together to create Double Take
“When people see disabled people for the first time, they have these automatic assumptions about them,” said Sawsan, a participant in the show Zakaria, who has SMA, said a few days before the event. “It was the first shoot, the second was when we walked the runway and we looked stylish and looked great in clothes where you couldn’t really tell the fit, and that’s where we wanted to start. It represented people with disabilities. You can be fashionable, and you can show your personality through fashion.”
A self-proclaimed “little fashionista” Zakaria frequently modifies her ready-made clothes , wearing a printed bodysuit tailored to her proportions with a custom chainmail belt and boot covers, which she said reflected her own personal style of “sexier, sexier chic”. It opened with singer-songwriter James Ian in a pink suit with a jacket with hidden magnetic buttons for a button-up look that didn’t need to be buttoned up, while social influencers Shane and Hannah Burcaw closed it in a purple velvet suit, Stretch panels at the elbows allow for easy flexing, and a hidden zip separates the sleeves and back for easy fit.
The show features the music video for Ian’s song “Spaces” Featured, there was applause as each model walked off the runway, some by herself, some in the company of family members, such as Joe Lakhman, who was accompanied by his brother Lexi. The event culminated in a short Q&A with selected models and OSL fellows.
