Dress Codes - London 2026 Design Impact Fellowship
The Open Style Lab Design Impact Fellowship is returning to London from June - September 2026.
Applications have now closed. If you want to be involved or collaborate please email summeruk@openstylelab.org
This year’s theme, Dress Codes, will unpick ideas of formal clothing and the social rules that shape how bodies are seen, heard, and included.
2026 Theme
What we wear to work and events shapes how we are perceived, how we move through professional spaces, and whether we feel confident, credible, and included. Yet in the UK, only around 53% of disabled people of working age are employed, compared with over 82% of non-disabled people - a persistent employment gap of roughly 29 percentage points. Disabled people are also more than twice as likely to be unemployed as their non-disabled peers.
This summer programme focuses on rethinking workwear and formalwear through a disability-led, co-design lens, bringing together designers, engineers, and people with lived experience to create solutions that are both functional and stylish. By addressing what it means to show up at work and events - comfortably, confidently, and authentically.
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Andrea and Allegra going down the catwalk at NYFW 2022
Dates
Program Dates:
Part 1: Research (virtual) // early-mid June
2 weeknight calls
Saturday afternoons
Part 2: Making (hybrid) // mid-July – late-August
Friday’s / Saturday’s full lab day in person
1x day a week collaborative teamwork
Part 3: Showcase (in-person) // early September
A final exhibition to present the work
Design Impact Fellowship Mission
The Open Style Lab 2026 Fellowship Program will address the urgent need for inclusion in the fashion industry through:
* Recruiting and empowering disabled designer fellows
* Activate skill-sharing and cross-industry innovation through a multidisciplinary collaboration model that embeds co-design into education and practice
* Challenge and dismantle stereotypical design hierarchies of adaptive garments
* Redefine luxury, and elevate inclusive occasion wear
The Open Style Lab 2026 Fellowship Program will address the urgent need for inclusion in the fashion industry through:
* Recruiting and empowering disabled designer fellows
* Activate skill-sharing and cross-industry innovation through a multidisciplinary collaboration model that embeds co-design into education and practice
* Challenge and dismantle stereotypical design hierarchies of adaptive garments
* Redefine luxury, and elevate inclusive occasion wear
About
* 10 Week Fellowship
* 15-17 fellows; 5 teams
* Fellows with lived experience of disability
* Designers
* Occupational Therapists
* Engineers
* Communications
Learning modules include disability theory, research methodologies, multidisciplinary ideation, co-creation, product making and refinement, storytelling, and exhibition and feedback.
Applications have now closed but If you are interested in being involved in our 2026 fellowship cohort in London please apply below. If you have any questions please email us at summeruk@openstylelab.org.