In recent years, adaptive fashion has proved that it is here to stay. The emergence of brands such as Unhidden, Dewey, BraEasy, Liberare and others have shown significant market growth, and that mainstream fashion houses should be taking notes. London Fashion Week is starting to present shows each season with disability at the forefront – such as with Unhidden’s show in collaboration with Kurt Geiger in 2023.
At the end of January 2025, Primark launched its new adaptive fashion range designed by Victoria Jenkins, compromising 49 ‘bestseller’ pieces across the men’s and womenswear sections. The first of its kind, the range is MRI friendly – in being suitable for scans – while also including other features such as openings for ports and feeding tubes. The offering will be included in 31 UK stores, as well as those with the click and collect system.
We had a look at this exciting new adaptive fashion range, so let’s talk about it!
The Launch of Primark’s Adaptive Fashion Collection
The collection debuted at a large studio in Shoreditch, including four different sections with dramatic colours to frame the range. A pink room showed photographs from the collection, a red display showed a new wraparound little black dress, while on the left hand side we could find the menswear section. Dotted throughout were various wall displays to charter Jenkins’ work, as well as the collection’s emphasis on disability. The centre of the room had been displayed similar to a wardrobe – allowing for the assembled guests to peruse the litany of designs. Labels wrapped around each hanger could be flipped to show exactly what makes the adaptive design adaptive – such as when it comes to zips, extra space, the lack of seam and more.
Fashion royalty and disability activists such as Ellie Goldstein, Samantha Renke and Eliza Rain (also known as @disabled_eliza) were in attendance for the day. As a revelation, the event was also wheelchair accessible – in that wheelchair users did not have to rely on other people to interact with the product on the shelf. And there was enough transfer room and seating!
What’s also notable is the use of inclusion in campaign materials by Primark. Disability was placed front and centre while also taking into account ethnic and gender diversity. The launch itself had moving and still images, which were captioned, too – all as a standard measure.
Why Adaptive Fashion Matters
A small speech by a Primark representative and Jenkins set the tone of the event with a simple yet effective declaration: “We’re far from finished, there’s so much more work to do.” Small gestures make a big difference – such as the simple act of a verbal introduction for people who may have a visual impairment.
Adaptive fashion has become a mainstay of the fashion space in recent years. Take into consideration that the last government’s population census suggests that the disabled community makes up almost a quarter of the UK’s population; disability is also accepted as the world’s largest minority group, owing to the intersection of race and gender. Yet, stats such as The Purple Pound point to the ongoing damage of inaccessibility. The Purple Pound, valued at an estimated £274 billion, is the total spending power of disabled households in the U.K. Yet, £2 billion is estimated to be lost monthly – because of the lack of access afforded to disabled people.
“This was always the brand our community needed!” declared Jenkins, while a Primark representative simply requested the assembled audience to tell others about what they’d seen – as the company would like for other organisations to come on the same journey as them.
This begs the question as to whether brands can afford to ignore adaptive fashion any more. Aside from being a moral issue, there is a lack of logic to ignore a rapidly growing sector. Even when it comes to the marketing side of it, why is it not standard that all video materials are captioned? Or that there is a range of materials available- still and moving?
What I Thought As A Disabled Person
I have been disabled my whole life – and getting dressed in the morning is still a basic activity I wholly resent. The intersection of access needs (is something going to set off my sensory issues, while trying to wrestle around hospital issues such as bruising?) just feels a lot to contend with. I grew up as the unfashionable kid at the back of the class, feeling left out by the lack of access in shops – and just wanting to feel a part of things. I can’t hide that I use a cane, or that I wobble when walking. The lack of accommodation by the mainstream is isolating, especially when trying to ‘work’ against a body that has not been thought about. I am not a tragedy, not a pity object – I am a human being. And I want to be ‘in’ on the action, too.
Why has it taken twenty six years in total to reach this stage? How I wish I could tell my teenage self about this new range from Primark. She’d be dancing, ecstatic – and I left the event with the biggest smile on my face. I am a chronically ill individual, meaning I sometimes have to plan hospital appointments, such as if I need to roll up my arms for blood tests or worse. It’s a constant cognitive load – to have to change from my favourite outfits to something acceptable in a medical setting where I am viewed as a body. The decentering of me as a person is a horrible feeling, along with not feeling supported by the clothing I wear. To feel at home in a body, supported by clothes that afford you the round-the-clock dignity of managing in all settings shouldn’t be a revelation. But it is.
We have waited too long for this day. It’s not a frivolous ask for brands to get on board with the inclusion revolution – try and stop us now!
If you want to learn more about how to step into the world of adaptive fashion, or learn how to cater to your disabled customers, the team at Purple Goat are the experts you need!
