“We all move in and out of disability,” Sinéad Burke said at Nine Orchard on Wednesday evening. “We all need more accessible solutions, and everybody deserves the right to get dressed and to have something beautiful – in their wardrobes, on their bodies, at all times.”
The disability activist’s words were powerful and inspiring, and the fashionable crowd, including Willy Chavarria, Christopher John Rogers, Rachel Scott, Batsheva Hay, Danielle Frankel Hirsch and Aurora James, appreciated the moment.
The occasion was the launch of this year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Design Challenge, and lead mentor Tommy Hilfiger partnered with Burke and Tilting the Lens, which she founded to start conversations in every room to bring visibility to inaccessibility, for the challenge.
Before the cocktail, the 10 finalists were each teamed with a muse.
Aubero’s Julian Louie will work with Jerron Herman, an artist who creates images of freedom.
Ashlyn’s Ashlynn Park was teamed with Bri Scalesse, a model and advocate for disability representation in media and fashion and for air travel rights for wheelchair users.
Bach Mai will collaborate Daphne Frias, a disability rights advocate as well as the New York state director for March For Our Lives and founder of Box the Ballot (BTB).
Bernard James will work with Maya Moore, a model and content creator.
Don’t Let Disco’s Ashley Moubayed is teamed with Lachi, a recording artist and author, award-winning music executive, and disability inclusion advocate.
Gabe Gordon’s Gabe Gordon and Timothy Gibbons were paired with Finnegan Shannon, an artist experimenting with forms of access.
Heirlome’s Stephanie Suberville was teamed with Caity Briare, an artist and fashion designer and founder of the Ca8ty fashion label.
Jamie Okuma will work with Marsha Elle, a model, singer-songwriter, actress, and disability advocate.
Meruert Tolegen’s Meruert Planul-Tolegen is collaborating with Andrea Delzell, the first registered nurse in a wheelchair in New York State.
Peter Do was put together with multidisciplinary artist, educator, and healing justice practitioner Jezz Chung.
“We hope they will learn from each other about what works,” Burke offered.
Hilfiger, who has known Burke for 20 years, explained how “this challenge pushes our industry forward. We at Tommy Hilfiger created adaptive fashion in 2016. We are still one of the very few designers doing it, and it is needed. I have three autistic children, and they really inspired me to have an understanding of the trials and tribulations of people with disabilities.”
