Pedagogy and Professional Development

Mapping Adaptive Apparel Scholarship in the Clothing and Textile Discipline

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Abstract

People with disabilities (PWD), which includes impairments and mobility challenges that impact their abilities to navigate the environment, make up 26% of the U.S. population (National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, 2021) and contribute $21 billion of disposable income to the marketplace (Yin et al.,2018). With such a significant portion of the population living with disabilities, the need for apparel to accommodate PWD's needs is expected to increase. Thus, this conceptual study examined the status of adaptive apparel for PWD, which leads to the mapping of adaptive apparel as an emerging topic within academic scholarship. Adaptive apparel is mass-produced clothing designed to be inclusive of people with impairments who face difficulty dressing (McBee-Black & Ha-Brookshire, 2020) but also follows the same trends and styles of clothing designed for people without disabilities.

Keywords: Adaptive, Apparel, Disability, Scholarship

How to Cite:

McBee-Black, K., Lee, Y., Morris, K. D. & Michaelson, D., (2021) “Mapping Adaptive Apparel Scholarship in the Clothing and Textile Discipline”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 78(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.13283