Inclusive Design for Little and Disabled People — An Interview With Chamiah Dewey Fashion.
Chamiah Dewey Fashion is a sustainable, adaptive womenswear brand for women with Dwarfism — a well-known condition that characterises itself as short stature and often a disproportionate shape and affects 650,000 people worldwide.
Chamiah Dewey, a 22-year-old Fashion Design and Development student studying at London College of Fashion and has just completed her Enterprise Diploma in Professional Studies. She is the founder and director of Chamiah Dewey Fashion, designing timeless pieces loosely influenced by seasonal trends, always in biodegradable fabrics, finished with innovative adaptive fastenings, and sourced and produced in the UK. Dewey’s ambitions for the brand sees them expanding their range to menswear and childrenswear, and eventually average-height adaptive wear.
What inspired you to design adaptive clothing for little people?
I have literally always been designing and drawing from as soon as I could pick up a crayon, always envisioning myself as a busy business owner of my own clothes brand. I always knew I wanted to make a difference in the industry, but it wasn’t until I met a young person with Dwarfism in 2018 that I knew what that was.
She taught me so much about Achondroplasia, the most common form of Dwarfism — which characterises itself with short stature, often a disproportionate shape and other features like bowed legs, wider hips, and a larger head. I was inspired to investigate the stylish clothing options with conditions like hers, only to find that it didn’t really exist yet.
What is the issue with the adaptive fashion industry as it is?
‘Adaptive’ fashion is “clothing designed for people with physical disabilities, the elderly, and the infirm who may experience difficulty dressing themselves due to an inability to manipulate closures, such as buttons and zippers, or due to a lack of a full range of motion required for self-dressing.” Currently, there is a limited range of clothing for disabled people, often prioritising function over fashion. For little people, this range is even more limited, again, always with function over fashion at its heart.
What makes you different?
Chamiah Dewey Fashion is breaking that mould, offering stylish pieces that are made with buttery soft fabrics and finished with innovative adaptive fastenings, like magnetic snaps, sew-in magnets and wrap designs. We see ourselves being trailblazers in the industry because we offer both function and fashion; we want to be a one-stop-shop for people with Dwarfism and disabilities for all their clothing needs.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In five years time, Chamiah Dewey Fashion will have ranges for women, men and children with Dwarfism. We will be producing all our garments in-house, in a beautiful, open warehouse that I will purchase, and we will be planning to – if not already - produce garments for average-height disabled people too. We believe that no matter your body shape or ability, you deserve to look and feel amazing. Our clothing will make you feel empowered, confident, and sexy in your own skin.
Tell us about your fashion template books for disabled people.
Well, we created the worlds first fashion template book for little People and wheelchair-users. We realised that not only are disabled people underrepresented in mainstream media and fashion, but also in books, in particular, fashion template books. As a young girl, I was obsessed with these books; they tend to have a faint outline of a model for you to design your own ideas onto, and it occurred to me when I was trying to sketch wheelchair-users for designing clothes that these books didn’t exist — so I made one.
To keep informed about our launch date, releases, and our books, check out our website chamiahdeweyfashion.com. We also regularly share fashion inspiration, infographics and behind the scenes sneak peeks on our Instagram @chamiahdeweyfashion.
Written by Chamiah Dewey