Design and Disability review
October 11, 2025Design and Disability review. I love that the V&A has decided to put on a show about Design and Disability. The whole museum is devoted to object design in its many forms and the challenge of creating items for use by people who have different needs to others in society is a fascinating one. It can also be a tricky one since an adaptation that perfectly suits one person with a particular condition may not be useful for another person with the same condition as their particular needs are different. However, many designs first intended for those who do things differently from the mainstream have gone on to be adopted in wide use. This is because the design is so excellent that it makes things very convenient for everyone.
Clothing Modifications
This shirt has poppers on the sleeve to allow for medical care. Photo G Jones
This bikini top opens at the front, and the briefs open at the side. Photo G Jones
The show is thoughtfully constructed with consideration for different disabilities. It has different types of seating structures. This includes chairs of different heights, footstools, and a modern chaise longue design if you’d like to or need to stretch your legs out. There is also a video with sign language describing the show at the beginning, alongside conventional written signage. And there is a table with not only different books on the subject but also stim toys for neurodivergent people who might want to regulate themselves. There are, of course, many different kinds of disability and one show cannot be expected to cover them all, nor the outstanding modifications made for them.
Fashion and disability
Design and Disability Review. Fashion and clothing is a really interesting side of design and disability which I think could absolutely have its own show. For example, how do you make something stylish and comfortable which works when your body spends a lot of time in the seated position in a wheelchair, but also looks good when you stand?
Clothing openings need to be in a different place to be accessible for the seated form. This includes when dressing, undressing, and going to the toilet. Where most knickers are designed to be pulled down from a standing position, if you can’t stand or lift your bum, a side opening makes things easier. A front fastening bra also makes things easier – and probably would do for a large proportion of the population, as it one of the last items of clothing still created with a fastening that is difficult to reach for most wearers.
You may need accessible openings for tubes in different areas of the body. And perhaps stylish matching bags or pouches to allow for drain bags or stoma bags. Perhaps it is difficult for you to bend over. Nike amongst others have made a fantastic shoe design which bends in the middle and gently snaps shut onto the foot, meaning you don’t have to bend to put it on or take it off, or fiddle with fastenings.
Functional Fashions
This area of design is not new. As the exhibition shows, in 1958 Helen Cookman, a Deaf designer, worked alongside the occupational therapist Muriel Zimmerman. Together they created the Functional Fashions clothing collection. Cookman went on to collaborate with over 30 big names in fashion, including Bonnie Cashin. Cashin was an ideal candidate. She was interested in creating easy to wear and chic outfits for all postwar women. Her designs freed them from the restrictions of corsets and heavy layers. It would have been an interesting challenge for her to consider the additional needs of different disabilities. I think she would have excelled at it.
The original brochure for Functional Fashion shows a very chic 1950s lady with a calliper that is just visible, alongside a person in a wheelchair almost entirely obscured by the text, in a piece of very unfortunate layout design which has the effect of making the white coated scientists watching the fashion show as important as the models. The brochure emphasises that the garments are “scientifically constructed and styled, [and] the result of study and research”. This medicalisation of even someone’s clothing is perhaps something that most people, disabled or not, might appreciate getting away from.
In some cases the alternative is not mentioning that the piece is intended for disabled people at all. The Nike shoe I mentioned before suggests that it is “hands-free” in the marketing material. It does not say it is for disabled people. In contrast isthe Japanese designer Etsuo Miyoshi, who founded the luggage company SWANY. He always mentions that his innovative products are designed to help disabled people. He has found that this has improved their sales numbers. It also prompts discussions around the subject and ultimately helping to de-stigmatise it.
Design and Disability review – a surprising addition
One piece which I found really controversial and was surprised to see included was the chair designed by Wendy Jacob in conjunction with Temple Grandin. Temple Grandin is absolutely beloved by many autistic people as she has spoken eloquently about the condition from the viewpoint of being autistic herself. Grandin specialises in animal behaviour and developed a “squeeze machine” which theoretically calms cows before slaughter. This is supposed to be humane. The slaughter still takes place. The upholstered red velvet chair featured in the exhibition adopts the same principle. It employs a user operated pneumatic pump to cause the wings of the chair to close around the person sitting in it, like a hug. The principle is sound, but its associations are not.
Design and Disability review – Interesting and Thoughtful
Overall, this is a thoughtful show. It makes a valiant effort to bring visiblity and promote discussion to a very interesting area of design.
Design and Disability is on at the V&A South Kensington until 15th February 2026. Entry is £16 with concessions available.
