Diversity and Inclusion are key to the present and future of American fashion and include many aspects, from gender to race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and abilities. The latter is now at the core of FFORA, a new lifestyle and accessories brand launched by Lucy Jones, who is primarily designing for people with disabilities.
“One of the major asks from the disability community has been to make products that are not only functional and easy-to-use, but desirable and stylish as well,” Jones, an alum of Parsons School of Design, said. “The fashion industry talks a lot about ‘inclusion’ and ‘diversity,’ but for too long, people who have disabilities have had to ‘make-do’ or invent their own solutions because not all products are designed for them in mind.”
A conversation with a family member with cerebral palsy challenged Jones to rethink the accessibility factor of her designs – and made her realize how under-represented the disabled community was in fashion.
It took Jones and a design team two years of research and development before launching the first collection called The Essentials Suite and featuring lifestyle accessories for manual wheelchair users. It includes a proprietary wheelchair-attachable dock, a versatile unisex leather bag offered in two sizes, and a cupholder – built around the Attachment System, ie. a clamp and open dock that attaches securely around the lower tubes of most wheelchairs.
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Jones is no stranger to the CFDA. She was one of three recipients of the Eileen Fisher Social Innovator Award, a partnership between Eileen Fisher Inc. and the CFDA, as well as an Elaine Gold Launch Pad Fellow. Other accolades include a Kering ‘Empowering Imagination’ Award and being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.
The products range from $25-$138. The Essentials Bundle starts at $157.
Jones and her team relied on extensive feedback from both wheelchair users and the broader disabled community.
“We believe that everybody deserves to see themselves reflected in the products that they use every day,” she added.
