The Japanese clothing company Uniqlo has started an inclusive project in Berlin in which clothing is adapted to the needs and wishes of wheelchair users.
The aim is to work with the target group to develop designs that are desired and needed. The results of a pilot project that was started in October in cooperation with the Berlin fashion label Auf Augenhoehe are helping here. In three workshops, information from wheelchair users was collected and evaluated, which is used internally and on a global level to increase visibility and understanding of the topic and the target group.
The three workshops of the pilot project took place from the beginning of October to the end of November in the Re.Uniqlo studio in the Berlin flagship store on Tauentzienstrasse. A total of seven wheelchair users took part and, together with the teams from Uniqlo and Auf Augenhoehe, worked out which details of Uniqlo clothing had to be changed in order to make them inclusive and barrier-free. The main focus was on shirts, blouses and jeans.
“Uniqlo LifeWear is ‘made for all’. With the new Uniqlo Inclusive Fashion Project, we want to get even closer to this philosophy and adapt our collection to the needs and wishes of wheelchair users. I am very pleased that with Sema Gedik, the founder of Auf Augenhoehe, we have an experienced project partner on board who already has great expertise in the field of accessible fashion,” comments Uniqlo Germany COO Yamato Kuwahara in a press release.
Following the pilot project, Uniqlo will develop a concept for further cooperation together with Auf Augenhoehe. The new repair and alteration studio Re.Uniqlo Studio in the Uniqlo store on Tauentzienstraße is to be used as a platform where customers with disabilities can have Uniqlo clothing adjusted according to their needs and wishes.
