Inclusive Design in Apparel Product Development for Working Women With Physical Disabilities

Abstract

Consumers with physical limitations want apparel products and retail environments that work for them. Inclusive design is a framework for developing products to satisfy multiple consumers, regardless of their physical ability. This qualitative study reports on physical limitations and apparel preferences of working women (n = 9) with a variety of limitations. A prototype for a garment was developed, wear‐tested, and evaluated using inclusive design criteria. Subsequently, manufacturers (n = 6) were interviewed regarding production and distribution within the existing system. Results indicate that (a) the effect of disability on the body supercedes clinical definition for apparel product development, (b) working women with various disabilities have similar apparel needs, (c) inclusive design can be a successful strategy for product development, and (d) current industry perceptions about disability present the greatest barrier to successful implementation. The researchers conclude that further studies should focus on industry “buy‐in” of inclusive design as a framework for product development.

Disability, Participation and Apparel throughout the Life Course

“…For example, clothing might need to be modified to allow access to IV ports or catheters necessitated by impairments in body function, or might interfere with the ability to use assistive devices and thus a person's ability to execute different activities (Banks 2001;Garner and Douglas 1991;Nessley and King 1980;Wang et al 2014;White and Dallas 1977). Further, clothing can increase feelings of stigma that influence the desire or ability to engage in social participation (Carroll and Gross 2010;Carroll and Kincade 2007;Freeman, Kaiser, and Wingate 1985;Wingate, Kaiser, and Freeman 1986). For many PLWD, "…dressing in patient clothing can be a metaphor for illness or other health problems" (Topo andIltanen-Tähkävuori 2010, 1685).…”

<b>Using the analytic hierarchy process for selecting prototypes in the development process of fashion garment products

“…It is a set of sequential activities and tasks that reflect the customer needs in product planning (Suh, Carroll & Cassill, 2010). Models describing the process of garment product development are briefly explained through five stages: idea generation, design, prototyping, evaluation and design refinement, and production planning (Watkins, 1988;Gaskill, 1992;Lamb & Kallal, 1992;Wickett, Gaskill, & Damhorst, 1999;Carroll & Kincade, 2007) as shown in Figure 1. Research into the product development process is intended to increase the effectiveness of product development and reliability of their actions and decisions (Regan, Kincade, & Sheldon, 1998 Steps for the development of the collection engineers and all professionals must make several decisions taking into account diverse criteria.…”

Development of an integrative process model for universal design and an empirical evaluation with hospital patient apparel

“…Carroll and Kincade (2007) proposed a five-stage product development model involving (a) the collection of consumer needs and preferences from the consumers themselves, as well as past literature; (b) co-design between consumer and designer to collect ideas and generate a prototype; (c) consumer wear-testing the product and the designer checking that it adheres to the universal design principles mentioned earlier; (d) industry evaluation and feedback to determine any constraints of the product; and (e) implementation and distribution to ensure that everything works. Carroll and Gross (2010) refined the aforementioned model in a later study to better illustrate the relationship between disability and apparel.…”

“…More recently, universal design made its debut in the field of apparel design (Carroll & Kincade, 2007). As of 2014, there are still very limited numbers of empirical applications available in this particular field (Carroll & Gross, 2010;Martins & Martins, 2012;Park, Morris, Stannard, & Hamilton, 2014).…”