Key Sentence:
- In 2017 Alexandra Harold started an online marketplace with one mission selling customizable clothing for adults and children with disabilities.
- Plus, the product will be functional – think magnetic buttoned shirts – and modern.
A lot has happened since then. A company called Patti+Ricky now presents more than 100 fashion brands customized for adults and children. Many designers have loved ones with disabilities or disabilities themselves. However, the company has also provided pandemic-inspired assistance to make it more useful for customers who are particularly vulnerable to severe cases of Covid.
She also recently started working with JCPenney on a new line of children’s clothing retailers.
Work with JCPenney began last year when a friend Fashion Services introduced the company to a team at the retailer and created a new children’s clothing brand with adaptive features such as sewing for sensitive children and more accessible openings. The line was introduced in July.
Finally, Herold worked with the team to add accessories from the Patti+Ricky store. There are products from four brands, such as PunkinFutz, which makes adaptive toys and bags, including Sesame Street stickers that non-verbal children can attach to compression vests to express emotions that can cause communication problems, and Myself Belts.
This work also fits well with Herold’s long-term goals. “I’ve always wanted to support adaptive mode to go mainstream,” he said.
Pandemic break
When Covid hit, Herold paused for a moment. Fashion Services What is the best way to attract consumers who the impact of Covid has hardest hit? While fashion and function were the company’s mantra, she decided that she focused on the latter due to the crisis. That means talking more about products that help kids dress themselves, maintain routines, manage anxiety, and learn. Examples: moods for children that help them focus, especially during virtual lessons, without disturbing the whole class, or compression vests that help users feel more relaxed.
To this end, she posts once a week, then up to twice a week, on Instagram Live, where designers discuss their products and stories. In addition, it has tried to be a resource for people looking for suitable products, including those not sold on the website. He also reached out to Zappos Adaptive and Juniper Unlimited, “so people can buy whatever they need,” he said.
Personal experience
Herold originally intended to create a non-profit organization to help teachers create inclusive classrooms for children with disabilities. Eventually, she updated this model and instead launched an e-commerce site selling clothing, accessories, and other clothing for adults and children with disabilities.
Your inspiration for this venture comes from personal experience. In addition to growing up with dyslexia and ADHD, he lost his mother, a fashion entrepreneur and living CEO, to brain cancer. And he was very close to his cousin, who was born unable to walk or speak; he died a few years ago. So he named the company after his mother (Patty) and cousin (Ricky).