Universal Fashion Lets Anyone Have Fun Dressing Up
A fashion show that welcomes people with disabilities and the elderly to enjoy clothes as well. A wide range of people get up on stage and the runway in this show, including wheelchair users and people with canes. (Photo courtesy of Sahoko Kurita, Representative of Associé chaco)
The concept of “universal design” is used for buildings and daily essentials, but it is also being implemented in clothing within Japan, under the name “universal fashion.” This aims to create a society in which everyone can freely enjoy dressing up with barrier-free clothing, regardless of illness, injuries, disability, age, or other aspects.
Clothes That Are Easy to Wear or Put on Others, Regardless of Injuries or Disabilities
Many people put their arms through their shirt sleeves and do up the buttons on the collars and the front on a daily basis. However, if you are unable to use your hands in the way you like due to an injury or broken bone, these actions become very difficult to perform. Similarly, if you cannot get up on your own, you will need someone else to put your clothes on for you. The gowns and pajamas given to hospitalized people are often loose and easy to wear. However, they do not come in many different designs, and they are not suitable for meeting people or going outside. People want to wear nice clothes to suit their mood when they go outside, even if they may need to use a wheelchair. Universal fashion aims to solve these issues.
So, what requirements are there for universal fashion, anyway?
In terms of functionality, clothes need to be easy to put on, hard to come loose, and easy to take off. These requirements include ease in putting the clothes on and taking them off others, too. Clothes can be made easy to wear by making the whole sleeve larger, or by making the area around the shoulder larger like a dolman sleeve. Some people can only move one hand, and there are some types of clothes that they cannot put on alone. It is possible to adapt these clothes by replacing regular shirt buttons and zip fasteners with ones that can be fastened and removed with one hand, which allows people to put them on by themselves using only one hand.
Reforming People’s Favorite Clothes to Create Universal Fashion
Masato Yamaguchi is the director of an association founded in 1997 to promote universal fashion. He says that universal fashion does not refer to any specific object; rather, it is a concept aimed at creating a society that lets anyone enjoy a rich selection of fashion, regardless of age, body shape, disability, sex, nationality, or other characteristics.
There are many possible approaches that can be used to create clothes based on the concept of universal fashion. Two examples of specific methods are to make clothes from scratch using an original design, and to reform existing clothes to suit the wearer. Reforming clothes based on universal fashion means taking people’s favorite outfits and changing the buttons for parts that are easier to use, or opening up sleeves and trouser legs to make them easier to put on and take off. You can reform clothes yourself if you have the right knowledge and materials for handiwork or dressmaking, but you can also ask a store to reform the clothes for you. Currently, a larger number of regular clothes reform stores offer options to adapt garments based on universal fashion as well.
Left: A kids’ T-shirt that has been reformed to open up at the front.
Right: A pajama top that has been reformed to open up all the way from the cuff to the front. (Photos courtesy of Encoton corp. / Medley, Inc. “Naruhodo! Job Medley”)
Parts Manufacturers Are Developing Easy-to-Use Buttons and Zip Fasteners
Buttons, zip fasteners, and other parts help realize universal fashion from the aspect of functionality.
For example, buttons on clothes can be replaced with boat-shaped buttons, snap buttons, hook-and-loop fasteners, or further-evolved versions of these parts, to make it easy to put the clothes on or take them off with one hand. Boat-shaped buttons are shaped differently from regular round buttons. They are long on one side and are curved at the bottom, making them look just like boats. To do the button up, you can push the long and pointy part into the button hole, and then the other side will rise up and go inside the hole as well. In this way, the button can be used with just one hand. Snap buttons can be done up by pressing the two parts together until they make a snapping sound. This type of button is easy to use. In recent years, a type of button has been created with an assistive part shaped like a pull tab that you can hook your finger onto, making it easier for people with low grip strength to use. New types of zip fasteners are also being developed to be
easier to open and close than conventional designs, making them even more convenient. From products that have existed for a long time to items that have been made even easier to use through an evolutionary creation process, many different kinds of parts are used to make clothes that are easy to wear for a wide range of people.
Boat-shaped buttons. If you push the long and pointy part into the button hole, the other side will rise up, letting the whole button go smoothly inside the hole. (Photos courtesy of IRIS Co., Ltd.)
Left: Assistive parts that make it easier for people with low grip strength to undo snap buttons.
Center: A picture of the button when done up. You can undo the button by hooking your finger onto the assistive part that is poking out from the clothing.
Right: A picture of the button when undone. (Photos courtesy of IRIS Co., Ltd.)
This zip fastener can be easily opened by pulling at both sides of the chain. The slider has a large hole for putting the chain through, making it easy to do up as well. (Photo courtesy of YKK CORPORATION)
Ready-Made Clothes Are Gaining Users by Catering to Diverse Needs
There are also ready-made clothes with universal functionality being created as new products. If you find clothes with a design that you like online or in a store, you can buy and wear them immediately, making them very simple and convenient. A wide range of clothing is available to buy, such as jackets with boat-shaped buttons and diagonal button holes that are easy to do up, outer garments with loose armholes and flexible shirred parts making them easy to put on, clothes designed to be longer at the back so that they do not easily ride up when sitting in a wheelchair for long periods of time, and pants with strings on their waist that make them easy to lift up with one hand. These products cater to the needs of wheelchair users as well as people at physical rehabilitation centers and care facilities.
People who use these clothes have expressed delight regarding functionality, mentioning that they were impressed by how easy the buttons are to do up, or how they can wear the clothes easily and adjust them with strings on the sides even if they have difficulty lifting their arms. Others have praised the design of the clothes as well, saying that the aspects that make the clothes easy to wear also gives a cute impression, so they can enjoy dressing up without being struck by an inferiority complex about their disability. Loose and easy-to-wear clothes help people without disabilities relax as well, so they are gaining attention from a wide range of people.
Sarouel pants with a string at the waist so that people with paralysis in the left or right half of the body can lift them up with the hand on the other side. The pockets have been positioned on the front so that they are easy to use even when sitting in a wheelchair. (Photos courtesy of OHK / Holiday Shoten Co., Ltd.)
Left: A jacket designed to be able to put on using only one hand, based on opinions from people in physical rehabilitation centers. It features boat-shaped buttons and diagonal button holes. This can either be worn with the front open, or with all of the buttons done up for a more formal look.
Right: A pullover with shirring around the neckline. The hem can be adjusted with a string to fit the wearer’s body shape. (Photos courtesy of OHK / Holiday Shoten Co., Ltd.)
Designers and Users Speak Together at Fashion Shows to Create New Designs
Fashion shows are also being held to help create and spread new clothes based on universal fashion. These universal fashion feature garments designed so that they are easy to put on for anyone, whether they have disabilities, use a wheelchair, or are elderly—not just clothes in line with the latest trends or that have innovative designs, but also wedding dresses, kimono, and other formal clothes that are even difficult for people without disabilities to wear. These shows often employ models who have disabilities or are senior citizens. In addition, before designing the clothes, workshops and other gatherings are sometimes held for designers to speak with people who have disabilities and elderly people. These events serve as valuable opportunities for discovering the needs of the people who wear the clothes.
Left: The stage of a universal fashion show. The model on the left is wearing a traditional Japanese garment called a kimono that has remade to be easy to wear. The model on the right is demonstrating an outfit that can be put on while sitting in a wheelchair.
Right: The model on the left is wearing the finest style of kimono called a “kuro-tomesode” that has been remade into a dress that is easy for people with physical disabilities to put on. The model on the right is wearing a wedding dress that can be put on while sitting in a wheelchair. This wedding dress comes in a set of two parts for the top and bottom, and it is worn by wrapping it around the body. (Photos courtesy of Sahoko Kurita, Representative of Associé chaco)
Universal Fashion helps a diverse range of people connect with many kinds of lifestyles, and it brings them happiness and joy.
What’s more, Masato Yamaguchi’s association is working on “phase-free” as a new challenge. “Phase-free” means products that are suitable for not just the phases of ordinary life, but also emergency phases such as after a disaster. The association is carrying out research on items that can store products to help in times of disaster, as well as weather-proof, durable, and flame-resistant clothes to help people be prepared for disasters that can strike at any time. Universal fashion is expanding the possibilities of fashion to accommodate people with disabilities, senior citizens, people taking care of young children, and even people impacted by disasters. These clothes are sure to significantly increase our own potential as we wear them, too.