Research Theme

The 2019 summer program research focused on three things: the agency of disabled collaborators, making as a form of learning STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) through fashion, and product design to create tools that alter or “hack” clothing. The team created adaptive sewing tools call the Hack•ability toolkit to make fashion accessible to people of all abilities.

*This toolkit was designed with the goals of sustainability (cost-effective), accessibility (inclusive of usability for the girls with disabilties), and inclusivity (co-designed through a collaborative process).

About the Partnership

With young teen girls from NYU Langone Health’s Initiative for Women with Disabilities (IWD), OSL co-designed these products to promoted independent dressing. This year’s partnership was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and documented by Radical Media for HULU’s Design for film. Fabrication and lab spaced was provided by SOUR Studios and Convene for the final showcase.

Adaptive Crafting Kit

An adaptive learning and crafting kit that makes fashion accessible to people of all abilities. Watch each product video below.