Parisian Paralympians fashion

For years, podcaster Alison Brown has covered the Olympics, but this cycle is the first to show signs of adaptive fashion.

Three years ago, Team Canada wore sleek white jeans to the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics opening ceremonies. The outfits looked good, but some Paralympians struggled with them.

Take Alison Levine. The para boccia player couldn’t wear jeans because they irritated her skin in a wheelchair. They were hard to put on and take off without an elastic waistband.

Levine says, “There was no way I was getting those on,” so she had to find something else that worked and looked similar. “You don’t want to look different because of your disability,” Levine says. You don’t want “Team Canada plus you guys.”

Things change this year. Levine and teammates wore bright red jackets with magnetic closures at the Paris Paralympics opening ceremony. A Levine-inspired seated carpenter pant was called the “Alison pant.”

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Levine sees the design process, in which Lululemon began interviewing her and others three years ago, as a meaningful advance not only in Olympics attire but also in adaptive or inclusive fashion, in which fashion labels are slowly responding to disabled people’s needs and recognizing their economic power.

Levine, 34, with a degenerative neuromuscular disorder, says, “Listen, people want to look good”. No matter your disability. When disabled, you often have to sacrifice looks for comfort or functionality. But the disability movement is growing bolder and stronger and saying we won’t accept this anymore.”

Levine knows she and her Canadian teammates are lucky, as most athletes don’t have a major apparel company designing their kits and providing guidance. Lululemon, which has a four-Games deal with Team Canada, designed all Olympian and Paralympian outfits for opening and closing ceremonies, village wear, medal ceremonies, media appearances, and travel.

Lululemon Team Canada creative director Audrey Reilly was surprised to learn that Levine mostly wore medical scrubs for comfort when training or competing. This prompted new designs for sitting and standing athletes. “All the athletes want to look the same,” says Reilly. “They want similar feelings.”

She designed the “Alison pant” with shin pockets for wheelchair-bound athletes. Levine says it was “insane” that a garment was named after her, but she was glad to wear what others were wearing: “You feel like you’re really part of the team.”

For years, podcaster Alison Brown has covered the Olympics, but this cycle is the first to show signs of adaptive fashion. She was struck by the spring Lululemon kit reveal and the Nike Team USA reveal, which featured wheelchair-bound and prosthetic models.

“It’s so simple, yet so impactful,” says Brown, who notes that most teams lack the resources and institutional setup of Team USA and Team Canada, which include Olympians and Paralympians.

Mindy Scheier, who has advocated for disabled-friendly clothing for over a decade, isn’t surprised that the issue was highlighted at the 2024 Olympics and in Paris, the fashion capital of the world.

“The paradigm has shifted, and brands are really starting to see this as a business opportunity,” Scheier says. “The momentum has absolutely trickled down to the Olympics and Paralympics because of the industry breakthrough.”

Scheier started advocating a decade ago when her 8-year-old son, who has muscular dystrophy, wanted to wear jeans to school. She had no options. A fashion designer, Scheier founded a foundation and consulting agency to promote adaptive fashion with designers and retailers.

Tommy Hilfiger, which has Tommy Adaptive, Target, Victoria’s Secret, and others have become her partners in the past decade. Runway of Dreams, Scheier’s foundation, will show 60 disabled models at New York Fashion Week this month.

Scheier says, “This is a vocal population, and it wants to be considered a consumer.”

Jessica Long loves fashion. Long, 32, is competing in her sixth Paralympics after winning gold medals at age 12. As a double amputee, she says finding prosthetic shoes was hard growing up.

She says shoe shopping and clothes shopping have always been the hardest for her.

Being older and more confident made it easier. She says finding shoes is still the hardest: “What people might not think about is that shoes can completely throw off my walking… if they’re too heavy.”

She’s glad the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Ralph Lauren, which designed opening and closing ceremony wear, surveyed para athletes a year ago to find out what works.

“I’ve seen so much improvement in the mobility for us,” Long said before the Paralympics. I think para athletes value those little pieces most. I think dressing up will be fun.”

Parisian Paralympians fashion

For years, podcaster Alison Brown has covered the Olympics, but this cycle is the first to show signs of adaptive fashion.

By triji

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