In a first for Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (AAFW), adaptive, inclusive, and expressive clothing made for people with disabilities hit the runway on Thursday 12th May at Carriageworks, presented by the Adaptive Clothing Collective and produced by Seeker Agency. Featuring brands Christina Stephens and JAM the Label, the runway shone a very important spotlight on functional and stylish apparel for those living with a disability, bringing it to the forefront of mainstream fashion.
The Adaptive Clothing Collective was created by the founders of Christina Stephens and JAM the Label for people with disabilities to have greater choice and control over their clothing options, allowing the same levels of expression through their fashion choices as people without disability.
Attracting a standing ovation, the show left not a dry eye in the house, with the energy in the room electric as the FROW crowd at fashion week well and truly embraced adaptive fashion. Models in the show included disability advocate and 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year Lisa Cox, as well as Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, an Australian doctor, lawyer and scientist and disability advocate. It was also the first time Carol Taylor, considered the world’s first quadriplegic designer, who is a partner, lead designer and production manager at label Christina Stephens, had ever seen her designs on the runway.
Kate & Co. PR managed the publicity and guest list for the runway. Guests in attendance included Erin Holland, Donny Galella, Jamie Azzopardi, and Kath Ebbs, as well as key national fashion and lifestyle media from Harper's BAZAAR, Vogue, The Australian and Sydney Morning Herald. We created a strategic publicity campaign focussed on results-led outcomes. Pre-publicity coverage was secured in the Daily Telegraph, Confidential as a pointer to runway, with post-publicity coverage achieved in The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Herald Sun, Courier Mail, Refinery29, Channel 9, Channel 10, ABC News, SBS, ELLE Australia, Harper’s BAZAAR, Inside Retail, Time Out Sydney, Smart Company, and more.