Adaptive Fashion Education Initiative
At Columbia College Chicago, I designed and launched the first higher education course dedicated to adaptive fashion. Partnering with YKK, Joe & Bella, Silvert’s, Runway of Dreams, and disability advocate Jessica Jordan Ping, this course empowers students to research, design, and engineer garments that respond to the needs of individuals with physical barriers while reframing adaptive design as a universal practice rather than a niche specialty.
Human Centered Design Approach
By merging empathy, engineering, and aesthetic design, this initiative builds a bridge between fashion education and social responsibility. The goal is not to design for people with disabilities, but to design with them, normalizing adaptive features and expanding what inclusive fashion can mean across categories.
Normalizing Inclusion
Instilled a design philosophy that positions adaptive features as integrated elements of good design, not specialized add-ons.
The course promotes universal thinking that broadens audience reach and normalizes inclusion across all apparel categories.​
Results
• Students are organically integrating universal design principles into projects across the broader Product Development curriculum, demonstrating lasting impact beyond the adaptive fashion course.
• Established long-term partnerships with YKK and other adaptive apparel leaders, bringing professional mentorship into the classroom.
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