Former nurse and clothing upcycler Rachel Thompson has recently launched an adaptive fashion brand, Adapted Trends Clothing UK, to give wheelchair users and young people with special educational needs functional and fashionable clothing.
The idea to create the new adaptive clothing brand came when Rachel, from Surrey, rose to the challenge of upcycling a denim jacket for a young wheelchair user at a fundraising event.
In 2023, Rachel was invited to take part in a fashion challenge to raise funds for a local home-from-home care provider, Cherry Trees UK. She was tasked with upcycling a denim jacket for Jane, a young wheelchair user who is non-verbal, using a pod book to communicate.
Rachel recalled: “With the help of her parents and the pod book, Jane expressed to me exactly which fabrics and colours she liked. Her parents, along with many others I met, explained how there was very little fashionable adapted clothing available to their children in the UK. They needed clothes that were practical, age appropriate, and fashionable, but often jogging bottoms are their only option.
“This was my lightbulb moment. How can young people and children express their personality if there is no choice available?”
Rachel was shocked and saddened by the lack of fashion choices.
“Limited mobility shouldn’t mean you can’t wear up-to-date fashions,” she continued. “In the UK there are very few clothing brands which specialise in designing clothes for adolescents with special educational needs and wheelchair users, and that needs to be rectified.”
Rachel, with the help of her daughter, who was working at a school for children with special educational needs, spent the months following the fundraising event working together with young people, their parents, and teaching staff to design fashionable and functional garments.
Parents expressed the need to ensure the fabrics chosen were soft and that nothing would rub on the wearer’s skin if they were sitting all day in a wheelchair. Rachel wanted her designs to promote independence as well as help busy parents and carers dress, toilet, and undress their children.
The starting point for the brand is a pair of fashionable unisex trousers. When funds allow, a capsule wardrobe will follow.
Rachel explained: “I have a very small budget, as I’m using my savings and a personal loan. Ideally, I’d like to have these trousers made in different colours and patterned fabrics, but I have to start small.”
Adapted Trends Clothing UK launched in September 2024 with the first trousers in what Rachel is confident will become a growing collection. The zip-front cargo-style trousers have already attracted praise for helping to “make dressing my son so much easier”, while the zip front section means “I can use my toilet bottle without help from anyone else”.
Now, following this early sales success, Rachel is in the process of gleaning feedback about a detachable waterproof backed dungaree bib that attaches to the trousers and can be changed for another when wet or dirty.
“I will make the bibs myself as a custom order until I know they’re of benefit and a success. I’m determined to design something that doesn’t look like a bib but serves the same function for children and young adults who have unintentional loss of saliva issues.”
Rachel is over the moon with the feedback to date.
She added: “Our aim is to create clothes that are both on trend and fit for purpose. In time I hope to expand the clothing line and create future designs and adaptations with the help of young fashionistas, their parents and carers. I greatly appreciate any constructive feedback on the trouser and bib design and welcome any ideas or wishes for future projects.”
Adapted Trends Clothing UK is currently available to purchase online via the website. Following the launch, Rachel wants to build a community of collaborators on social media, asking for ideas on items of clothing and suggestions about colours and fabrics.
She concluded: “This is the start of the journey but Adapted Trends can only develop and be successful with the help of our customers. Ideally, I would love to have an expert panel of young people with special needs, wheelchair users and parents/carers who can tell me what they’d like to wear then we can work together to come up with ideas and designs.
“Children and young people with special needs have personalities and this needs to shine through and be reflected in what they wear. I want children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities to share what they love to wear. My dream is to create a collage of fashion photographs to emphasise their individual tastes and fashion sense.”