People with mental and physical disabilities often struggle with conventional clothing. To help overcome those challenges, a whole range of apparel known as adaptive wear has sprung up. The clothing typically eschews buttons and zippers, in favor of pull-on pants with stretchy waistbands or shirts with easy-to-manipulate magnetic closures. And thanks to some designer collaborations, adaptive wear can be as fashionable as it is functional.

Still, it’s an uphill battle raising awareness about the clothing category, says William Herron, marketing director of NBZ Apparel International, which makes stylish and comfortable clothing for people with Down syndrome and other disabilities.

 “A lot of stores don’t have enough customers for adaptive wear, which is why caretakers usually have make adaptive clothes themselves,” Herron says.

Ignoring this niche would be a mistake, however. “Adaptive wear is a large, underserved market that continues to grow in population size,” says Maura Horton, founder of MagnaReady, which specializes in magnetically infused Oxford shirts. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 billion people, or about 15% of the world’s population, have some form of disability.

NBZ Apparel makes pull-jeans with elastic waistbands.

The internet has helped adaptive wear brands broaden their scope and reach customers far and wide. MagnaReady, for instance, grew its following by advertising on social media, and its garments are now sold in mainstream stores including Kohl’s, Sears, Bon-Ton and J.C. Penney.

Often the best adaptive wear designs “involve collaborations between fashion designers, occupational therapists, engineers and the clients-slash-models themselves,” according to style-focused news site Fashionista. For instance, the Open Style Lab is a nonprofit that works in partnership with New York’s Parsons School of Design to create fashionable adaptive clothing.

MagnaReady's Oxford shirts have magnetic closures for
people who lack the dexterity for traditional buttons.

 Tommy Hilfiger collaborated with the nonprofit Runway of Dreams to bring adaptive clothing into the mainstream. Mindy Scheier, founder of Runway of Dreams, said she started the nonprofit because her son, who has muscular dystrophy, wanted to wear jeans like his classmates.

“I was faced with a difficult and heartbreaking decision as his mother,” she writes in an essay posted on Motto, a Time website focused on young women. “Do I send my son to school in jeans, knowing his leg brace would not fit underneath and that going to the bathroom alone would not be possible? Or do I tell him he can’t wear what the other kids are wearing because of his disability?”

Scheier wasn’t happy with either of these options, which is why she created Runway of Dreams. The Tommy Hilfiger collection includes 22 pieces of adaptive clothing for boys and girls – all of which cost the same as comparable items in Hilfiger’s existing children’s line.

Scheier and other advocates hope options for stylish adaptive clothing continue to grow, as more designers and retailers become aware of the needs of this growing niche.

Product Hub
Find the latest in quality products, must-know trends and fresh ideas for upcoming end-buyer campaigns.