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Zalando is entering the adaptive fashion market, signalling rising industry awareness of the need — and growing demand — for more accessible design.
Today, the German fashion and beauty e-tailer is launching more than 140 adaptive styles spanning five of its private labels: Zign, Pier One, Anna Field, Yourturn and Even&Odd. The designs will be available in all 25 of Zalando’s markets, and will include men’s and women’s clothing, as well as footwear, with prices ranging from €12.99 to €89.99. It is part of the company’s broader diversity, equity and inclusion commitment to providing an inclusive assortment and experience for underrepresented groups by 2025.
Biases and knowledge gaps delayed the launch of Adaptista’s accessible e-commerce site by three years, pointing to a bigger issue in inclusive design. We unpack how they got there.
Zalando’s new adaptive fashion hub will also stock Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive, the US brand’s collection widely credited with bringing adaptive design to the mainstream and adding a fashion spin to historically functional, medical garments. This marks Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive’s first retailer partnership in Europe, where until now it has only been available direct to consumer.
“Adding the Adaptive range to [Zalando’s] offering is one more way we’re making our designs more accessible to consumers across Europe,” says a spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger, adding that the brand “remains committed to exploring innovative design solutions” with its customers.
For Zalando, it is the first step in a long-term investment in adaptive designs and brands. The assortment will continue to expand, says Sara Diez, vice president of women’s category and private label at Zalando, as the e-tailer onboards both established and emerging players in the adaptive fashion space. It won’t be asking for exclusive capsules though — accessibility is key.
Fashion has been slow to embrace adaptive fashion, leaving a gap that has forced disabled customers to tailor items themselves. About half of the 1,300 disabled customers surveyed by Zalando do this. According to a broader survey focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, one in five of its customers has an impairment that implies a need for adaptive fashion, and one in three has friends or family this applies to. By introducing its own adaptive range, Zalando is reaching into a largely untapped market, with huge potential. According to the Return on Disability Group, the global disabled population has a disposable income of $1.9 trillion per year.
Every disabled customer has slightly different needs, but there are certain design features that have more universal impact. To make sure that its collection catered to as many needs and experiences as possible, Zalando conducted consumer surveys and focus groups, honing in on seated designs for wheelchair users, sensory-friendly fabrics, easy closures (no buttons or zippers), and styles that accommodate prosthetics and bandages.
First comes the capsule, then the systemic change
An adaptive clothing range is a good starting point, but Zalando acknowledges that change has to be systemic. The company audited the accessibility of its website, using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Moving forward, its list of improvements will include providing alt text for imagery and content, having labels that enable a customer to use a screen reader, and using controllable media players with subtitled videos. For inspiration, it might look to disabled-led retailers like newcomer Adaptista, which includes rounded corners on images to ease anxiety and clean, spacious designs for synaesthesia. Adaptista is also exploring AI body measurements for people with dwarfism and lymphedema, and audio descriptions read by disabled voice actors.
Parachuting into an unfamiliar space can be challenging for brands. Zalando says this project highlighted a lack of people with disabilities working in its design teams, something it is keen to fix. Beyond educating its internal teams, many of Zalando’s manufacturers had never made adaptive clothing before. “There was a lot of upskilling involved,” says Diez. “Production is definitely more complicated.”
Other luxury fashion brands are looking to hire more people with disabilities too: Gucci recently became a certified participant in the annual Disability Equality Index, a joint venture from leading disability rights organisation, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and business disability inclusion network Disability:IN, marking it as a top employer for disability inclusion.
Zalando is working with external consultancies to make sure more people with disabilities are hired throughout the organisation, so representation happens behind-the-scenes as well as in public-facing campaigns. “We have been very clear with Zalando that this is a first step, and more needs to be done across the consumer experience to achieve accessibility, and affirm disabled consumers,” says Grace Stratton, director and founder of disability inclusion consultancy All is for All (AIFA), which has been advising Zalando on adaptive fashion specifically. Brands should honour the longstanding slogan of disability justice, she adds: “Nothing about us, without us.”
Clarification: Zalando is working with All is for All (AIFA) specifically on adaptive design. Other external agencies are advising Zalando on more inclusive hiring. (19/10/2022)
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