By Cienna Ditri
Listen to this Article
“Style is power — not because it hides us, but because it reveals us.”
There’s a revolution happening in fashion: one that isn’t stitched in spectacle, but in sincerity. For too long, accessibility sat on the sidelines, treated as an afterthought rather than included in the art of design. The designs that promised practicality too often forgot beauty. We all can recall the medical grade “adaptive pieces” of the past, better representing a trash bag than anyone’s personal style. That era is dead. Adaptive fashion is no longer an exception — it’s becoming the new standard.
This issue of FashionAbility celebrates the change-makers leading that shift, designers and creatives who refuse to wait for permission and who understand that fashion done right doesn’t exclude, it truly is for every body. They’re proving that function and glamour are not opposites, but two very needed parts of the same whole.
When I started @chronicallypersevering, I wasn’t thinking about starting movements, I was simply sharing my life as a disabled girl in the world. My truth has always been to that life with chronic illness and a love of fashion can coexist, beautifully and unapologetically. What I didn’t realize then was that from every outfit I styled to every photo I posted, it was all an act of self-advocacy. Style became the language through which I reclaimed my power and found myself. My clothes stopped hiding my reality and started sharing it boldly, elegantly, sometimes with stretch, and sometimes with the contrast of sass.
Fashion has always been about more than fabric and form. To me, it is a reflection of who we are on the inside coming to the surface. When I dress, I’m not chasing trends; I’m claiming my body, my life, and my story in every sartorial choice. I believe, as do the voices in this issue, that the foundation of style is our daily lives and stories. True sophistication comes when design works for the body that wears it. Adaptive fashion doesn’t need to whisper or hide. It can make a statement.
In these pages, you’ll meet people who live that truth. Laura Wagner Mayer reminds us that empathy is couture, while designing garments that move with grace and with purpose. Balini Naidu-Engelbrecht allows us to feel fashion literally through her bold, tactile use of Braille, transforming touch into style. Haley Schwartz, founder of Vertige Adaptive, finds strength in designs that sway with the body, not against it. Paula Sojo’s Osto.me Fashion reimagines medical devices as loud luxury, pairing an ostome and sequin skirt perfectly.
We aren’t just talking about a shift in the fashion industry, but beauty as well. Grace Strobel radiates true grace from the inside out, redefining what beauty looks like with every step she takes down a runway. Ramy Gafni shows that beauty is about presence, not perfection and that the smallest ritual can be an act of perseverance. Samantha Jade Duran infuses her work with joy and color, sewing self-expression into every stitch, while Jacob Rosser’s honest reflection on neurodivergent fashion reminds us that comfort, accessibility, and style can absolutely coexist.
Together, they show us what fashion becomes when accessibility stops being treated as “extra.” Inclusion isn’t a capsule line or a momentary campaign, it’s a movement that is here to stay. It’s when disabled creatives are behind the camera, on the runway, in the design studio, shaping the narrative at every level.
And perhaps most importantly, they remind us that the things that make us different are no longer something to conceal — it’s something to celebrate. The scuff on a loafer, the shimmer of a mobility aid, the wrinkle that comes from living — those are not flaws, they are marks of authenticity and of a life well lived. Fashion should never erase our realities; it should honor them. Fashion is our story and our joy for every body.
Fashion, at its best, is lived, fun, messy, intentional, and full of movement. It reflects the truth of our lives and transforms it into art. None of us need permission to take up space in this industry or in our everyday lives. We’re not “too much.” We’re simply ourselves and that is enough.
Perseverance can indeed be stylish. My conditions are chronic, but my style? Iconic.
With love,
Cienna Ditri
