Hair+Care for London Fashion Week AW2520 Images
Over two million people in the UK are living with sight loss, with 250 people starting to lose their sight every day – the equivalent of one person every six minutes. Despite these numbers, many industries remain inaccessible to blind and low-vision people, including fashion. “There’s a stereotype around blindness, people think ‘Oh, they’re not going to be interested in fashion because they can’t see in a mirror,’” says Lucy Edwards, a broadcaster, social media creator and disability activist. That is far from the case for her and many others, however, who enjoy fashion and its ability to form and express a sense of self just as much as anyone else.
“Fashion has been such an inaccessible thing, I’ve really had to rely on my husband and my sister to let me into this world that I always thought was so out of the way for me. Although, you know, I am really interested,” she says. “People don’t understand that we see fashion in a different way, through textures and styles. People don’t understand that we still care.”
In an effort to open up the world of fashion to the visually impaired, non-profit organisation Hair & Care has been working behind the scenes to make runway shows at fashion week accessible. Founded in 2019 by hairstylist Anna Cofone, the charity has partnered with designers and brand in London and Copenhagen for the last few seasons, creating experiences that allow blind and low-vision people to learn about the collections through touch before the show and audio descriptions of the looks during it.
For AW25, Cofone and her team partnered with three London-based labels, SS Daley, Roksanda and Chet Lo – the highest number of designers in a season to date. For each show, a selection of activists, models, influencers and creatives from the sight-loss and fashion communities, as well as some of the UK’s leading blind charities, were invited first to a “touch tour” of the collections where the designers shared their inspirations behind the clothes and how the pieces were made, while the guests had the opportunity to feel and explore all the details in the designs up close, including textures and fabrics.
On the Wednesday before his Sunday show, Chet Lo opened up his studios to guests including Edwards, RNIB’s Jane Manley and Jessikah Inaba, the UK’s first blind, Black barrister, to share his collection with them. Discussing everything from his decision to reinterpret chinoiserie patterned fabric in order to “confront” the colonialist Western interpretation of Asian art, to the technique used to create his signature spikes with leather, Lo was able to give first-hand insight into the collection. Then on the day of the show, the guests received samples of the fabrics used in the collections alongside audio descriptions of the looks that each model was wearing to listen to while sitting front row. Lo himself lent his voice to the descriptions, a suggestion that Edwards made to Cofone.
“It’s been an incredible season, I’m so proud of what we were able to achieve,” Cofone tells Dazed. “I think one of the biggest developments this season was having a luxury brand coming on board – we’re starting to see a growing awareness among designers of the importance of accessibility, and in the power in making their shows inclusive, which is really positive.”
For Edwards, the chance to experience and attend these fashion shows over the last few seasons has been really exciting. When she lost her eyesight at 17 she says she was distraught at the thought that she was losing her sense of self, including not having the ability to pick her own clothes for herself. Now, thanks to publications like British Vogue adding audio descriptions to their Instagram posts which help blind and low-vision people keep up-to-date with what’s on trend, and organisations like Hair & Care, Edwards has been able to discover her love of fashion again. “Making change in the inclusion space isn’t easy. You come across so many different hurdles. People don’t necessarily realise that blindness is a thing that you have to think about, but once you’ve thought about it, and it’s in everyday consciousness, it’s just so easy to integrate.”
Like Edwards, Cofone says there are so many different aspects of the industry that need to be considered when making changes around accessibility, from physical and online shopping experience to product design and labelling. “Although we are starting to see a change in attitudes and understanding around accessibility, there is still a long way to go within the fashion industry to be fully accessible for people with sight loss,” she says.
Looking forward, she and her team aim to continue advising brands on how to be more accessible for blind and low-vision people, and hope that more designers recognise both the importance and also the value in opening up their work to this often-overlooked community. “We have seen first-hand the impact these experiences can have. Guests who have joined have left feeling included and inspired, and – specifically from the accessible touch tours – they’ve been able to learn so much more about the clothes and the brands that they’re otherwise unable to access,” she continues.
“This is a community that has been largely excluded from the fashion industry, but are willing and passionate about being included – there is a misconception that blind and low-vision people don’t care about fashion, clothes or beauty, and it’s simply not true.”
