It was “epic.” It was “extraordinary.” And Tamara Morgan is still on cloud nine about her Mount Kilimanjaro climb, which she successfully completed at the end of the summer with the help of the adapted Paratrek wheelchair designed by the Adaptive Design Association (ADA) team.
“I never knew a wheelchair could do that,” Morgan said with a smile. “For me, it made it even more so relatable that adaptations can take you anywhere and make what might seem impossible, possible.”
At a time when equal accessibility and inclusion for everyone is being tried, Art and Design Gallery curator, Fawz Kabra, wanted to find a way to show how art, fashion and interior design can all come together to show the attention, empathy, and imagination, adaptive design requires to be represented outside of its “one size fits all niche.”
Adapted with protection and comfort to accommodate her short stature and fragile bone condition, Morgan’s Trekker KT was one of more than 60 pieces on display as part of The Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) Adapt/Evolve October exhibition that showcased adaptive and inclusive design.
In partnership with programs within FIT’s School of Art and Design, including Fashion Design, Footwear and Accessories Design, Interior Design, Graphic Design, Jewelry Design, and Toy Design, Adapt/Evolve artists, designers, and makers in the exhibition redefine accessible design, creating objects from stylish mobility aids to community-focused solutions that prioritize both function and human dignity.
A Showcase of Inclusive Design
For the opening of the exhibition, FIT collaborated with mannequin fabricating company, Bernstein Display, to create real seated mannequins and people with prosthetics, and display the works of Amy Sperber and FIT alumna and founder Slick Chicks, Helya Mohammadian, who showcased nearly 30 pieces of adaptive apparel to serve individuals with disabilities and diverse physical needs—without compromising on style. Sperber is the first to tackle the exhibit’s theme of empathy with her website that allows someone to create mannequins of different body types for more inclusive and better-fitting adaptive garments.
FIT alum Keith Kirkland featured his HapticNav and Wayband—technologies originally developed for public speaker Marcus Engel, who is visually impaired and had difficulty locating the building on the Pratt Institute’s campus where he was scheduled to speak to a group of undergraduate industrial design students interested in accessibility and inclusive design.
Kirkland applied his research in complex movement learning to develop the HapticNav mobile app and Wayband strap that helps guide people through vibration.
“For me, the visually impaired community had a deeper awareness and utilization of the sense of touch, and they have had more practice than anyone on the planet in integrating haptic information into their understanding of the world,” he told Able News.
Through the doors and to the left, it’s recess time! Orla’s Supine Stander made by FIT alumnus Eric Gottshall, constructed her stander from cardboard and wood to support the 18-month-old girl from behind and changing her body angle, helping gradually build her strength to promote hip and leg development.
“She totally let out a big smile when she was in there and she had weight down in her feet, her body was vertical and she had a surface to work on,” Gottshall told Able News. “When we make these adaptations that support these young bodies, for many of these kids, it’s the first time that they felt stable enough to put their hands out in front of them and start manipulating objects and it was another one of those moments where it’s like you’ve unlocked a physical achievement, but then you’ve unlocked joy in this new format, which is really powerful.”
It’s been said that “life happens in the kitchen” and those with limited mobility know it. The Magnadapt Handheld System by Senior Adaptive Designer & Fabricator at ADA, Adam El-Sawaf, enables people with limited hand function or grasping strength to adapt handheld items, such as cooking utensils and tools, through its bespoke hand cuff and magnetic swivel mounting system.
“What’s amazing about the Magnadapt is that you are no longer restricted in your choice of which utensils you can use,” Elaine Young, Board Member at ADA told Able News. “There’s so many other materials and colors that never really can bridge that gap of being adapted to something.” Because of how cleverly they were displayed – mounted on mannequin hands that were coming out of the wall – Magnadapt became the star design of the show and the promotional cover art for the exhibit.
FIT’s Toy Design annual Autism Research Project founded by Judy Ellis and led by Chair Damian Mucaro, challenges alumni to interact with neurodivergent children and fabricate toys that support verbal and nonverbal communication for the sensory needs of kids on the autism spectrum.
“Toys designed with children on the spectrum in mind can still be joyful, expressive, meaningful and fun for anyone,” Mucaro said, echoing Ellis’ original philosophy that understanding a child’s world is the cornerstone of great design, thus seeing toys not as commodities but as tools for connection and growth.
“Play is a language; toys are its vocabulary,” he said, adding that Ellis used to write the early versions of the senior-level Professional Portfolio Development advanced capstone course syllabus.
“Good design is design that considers the full spectrum of the human condition. And anything less than that is lazy and shortsighted,” said Gottshall, an adaptive designer and fabricator at ADA. He told Able News this is a wakeup call to those organizations that have not yet chosen to participate in all realms of the built world. “It’s a total tsunami of emotion every single time I go to deliver an adaptation,” he said.
Beauty and Adaptive Design
Finalizing the show, Wendy Yothers and Grace Jun demonstrated how beauty collides with adaptive design. Yothers, a former Assistant Jewelry Design Professor felt the “grace” when she was asked to display her elegant “Steady Horse” cane handle for when she wants to dress the part at a professional event and her “Drunken Duck” cane handle for when she needs to “lay off the booze.”
After being hit by a car, Yothers was limited in her ability to walk long distances, using a wheelchair as well, but she says the desire to feel like her own self was what drove her to writing and thinking of ways she could make art that “telegraphed the mood, the story, and the fashion statement” she wanted to tell. “I couldn’t find any appliances that helped me express myself,” Yothers told Able News.
“I’m going out, but I don’t like this thing that’s ugly [and] perfectly utilitarian. I need to lean on this ‘cause I’m tired, I’ve been on my feet too long, but I want to say it’s something else. So, I began to make them,” she continued to explain.
Adapt/Evolve explores a network of care, interdependence, and access to good design for all to foster a more inclusive and equitable future. For clients in need of an adaptation, ADA is always available to design and celebrate the power of community-centered design with you.
“Disability is treated as a phenomenon, instead of a natural part of every life journey,” Kirkland said. “It’s a measure of societal absurdity to design and build for perfect (or even consistent) ability.”