Open Style Lab focuses on disability awareness and inclusion in fashion at NYFW with Double Take Runway Show

The non-profit Open Style Lab for fashion has partnered with the Spine Atrophy community to create a stylish. And functional collection designed especially for people with disabilities.

New York Fashion Week has just begun, also to kickstart the calendar. The non-profit organization Open Style Lab is bringing their inclusive style and message to the runway.

In partnership with the Spinal Muscular Atrophy community, Open Style Lab hosted the first fashion show to “raise disability visibility.

Break stereotypes and advocate for adaptive fashion,” according to a statement from the organization.

On Thursday, 15 members of the disability community including YouTubers Shane also Hannah Bercow and singer-songwriter James Ian took to the runway wearing innovative fashions designed to meet each model’s unique needs. The event. Sponsored by Genetech as part of their SMA My Way initiative, was created to support the SMA community also raise awareness of the cause.

SMA is a rare progressive neuromuscular disease affecting nerve cells in the spinal cord. Which can cause muscle weakness and affect daily functions such as walking, breathing, and dressing.

Actress and model Sawsan Zakaria, who wore a metallic blue look on the runway. Attended the event to give people like her in high school an opportunity to express themselves through clothes. “When people first see someone with a disability, they have automatic assumptions about them,” he told the New York Times.

“That’s the first photo and the second photo shows us walking the runway. Looking stylish, looking great in clothes that can’t be said to be adaptable, also that’s what we’re aiming for. According to WWD, the organization’s adaptive fashion staff. Some of whom also have disabilities, worked with the high school community on traditional clothing. Such as Clothes with hidden magnetic closures as an alternative to buttons and hard-to-close sleeves, perfect for easier wheelchair use.

“I’ve worked with several people living with Spinal Muscle Atrophy to develop accessible clothing that fits their personality and individual needs, including Shane Bercow. Who has high school and uses a powered wheelchair,” Andrea Sayeh, an Open Style Lab The 2022 Fellow told WWD about designing the social media star’s Double Take ensemble.