Liz Jackson spoke at Inspirefest 2016 of her wish to rid the world of ugly products for people with disabilities.
In 2012, Liz Jackson was diagnosed with a chronic neuromuscular condition. She began documenting her journey through her blog, The Girl with the Purple Cane, and recently founded the Inclusive Fashion and Design Collective (IFDC).
The blogger was inspired to establish the IFDC when she noted the lack of fashionable options for necessary assistive products, like canes.
Jackson discussed the idea of “neo-universal design”, which acknowledges the exceptions to the fashion industry and aims to create “thoughtful, beautiful solutions” for them.
“So long as you aim not to improve the person, but to improve their ability to do what they want, when they want, where they want, your solution will always, always have much broader applications.”
She highlighted the onus upon designers, and us as consumers, to reject stigmatising, ugly products that are harmful to the person involved.
“Products made for people with disabilities must evolve. It is actually a matter of life or death.”
Words by Shelly Madden
