Abstract

Mindy Scheier, a former fashion designer and mother of a child with a disability, developed adaptive apparel design innovations focused on three categories: (a) magnetic closures; (b) adjustable pant legs, sleeves, and waistband; and (c) the flexibility of donning and doffing using different points of entry. The adaptive design features were incorporated into a first-of-its-kind adaptive children’s wear line collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger^® in 2016. Scheier’s adaptive design features and her collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger^® were well documented and have influenced additional adaptive apparel lines in mainstream fashion. The goal of this study was to gain an in-depth and contextualized understanding of Scheier’s design process to determine how she developed her adaptive apparel design innovations using a user-focused approach. To achieve this goal, a case study was deployed. This study revealed that Scheier included the PWD (people with disabilities) user in every stage of her design process by building trust and allyship with the PWD population. Further, Scheier had to balance the needs of the PWD user with that of the apparel industry to ensure her adaptive design features were included in mainstream apparel.

摘要

Mindy Scheier 是一位前时装设计师，也是一名残疾儿童的母亲，他开发的适应性服装设计创新主要集中在三类：(a) 磁扣；(b) 可调节的裤腿、袖子和腰带；(c) 使用不同入口点穿脱的灵活性。^{2016 年，自适应设计特征被纳入与 Tommy Hilfiger ®}的首个自适应童装系列合作。Scheier 的自适应设计特征以及她与 Tommy Hilfiger ^®的合作有据可查，并影响了主流时尚中的其他适应性服装系列。本研究的目的是深入了解 Scheier 的设计过程并结合情境化了解她如何使用以用户为中心的方法开发她的适应性服装设计创新。为了实现这一目标，部署了一个案例研究。这项研究表明，Scheier 通过与 PWD 人群建立信任和盟友关系，将 PWD（残疾人）用户纳入了她设计过程的每个阶段。此外，Scheier 必须平衡 PWD 用户与服装行业的需求，以确保她的自适应设计功能包含在主流服装中。