Braille is allowing the blind to experience fashion as a tactile art, where style is felt as much as it is worn. DW meets Kenyan Fashion designer Angela Wanjiku.
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00:00You are probably thinking that this is a random, cool, everyday wear design.
00:05Well, not quite.
00:07This is Braille on Fabric.
00:09This is what?
00:10Yes, it is the language for the blind on a garment.
00:14But who would think about that?
00:16And why?
00:17My choice to work with the visually impaired is heavily influenced by
00:21my experiences growing up in Thika,
00:24a place that has two of the largest schools for the visually impaired here in Kenya.
00:30I got to see the students and the young children
00:34go through their education, interact with them at music and drama festivals.
00:40So that captured my heart.
00:42And I knew by the time I was doing my project,
00:45I wanted to do something that would allow them to experience fashion
00:49as I experience it, share my passion with them.
00:52Braille is a writing system used by people who are visually impaired.
00:57It consists of patterns of raised dots arranged in cells or grids
01:02that represent letters, numbers or punctuation marks.
01:06In 2019, Angela was ready to establish Hisi Studio.
01:10Let's find out how she succeeded in making her fabrics be felt and convey empathy.
01:15I strive to ensure that the Braille on our clothing is aesthetic and functional
01:20first by its placement.
01:22We have placement on our sleeves and across the chest.
01:27So on the sleeve, it's interesting for anyone who'd like to touch
01:30and on the chest, it gets the attention of a viewer
01:34because we're keen on making sure that we raise awareness about Braille.
01:39So it allows for users and the viewers to have a conversation about that dot.
01:45According to market research findings reported by Vogue Business,
01:49the global adaptive fashion market is expected to surpass $400 billion by 2026.
01:56However, adaptive designs still frequently lack in mainstream fashion.
02:00Why is that?
02:02I acquired visual impairment at the age of 10.
02:05And I think that was a moment where this was a new experience.
02:10I was sighted.
02:12Now it's a world of darkness.
02:14It's a world of a lot of touching.
02:17And I think that has really shaped my experience,
02:19and especially around inclusive fashion, being that I'm a young woman.
02:24Of course, I love to look great.
02:27I love to look trendy.
02:29I love to look stylish.
02:30But I also want to do it in a way that is inclusive to myself
02:34and also to other people.
02:35Inclusive fashion has always been something that I never thought would be possible.
02:41Actually, I've always thought about, you know, fashion is always quite cumbersome,
02:45especially when you're dealing with persons with visual impairment
02:48because you rely a lot on support persons to tell you,
02:53this is this color, it looks like this and all of that.
02:56But I think my interaction with Angela gave me a different perspective
03:01because she brought out the aspect of independence.
03:03I think it's also been a learning even in terms of how the production is done.
03:08Like, how do we make it better?
03:09How do we make it long lasting?
03:12And how do we ensure that all users are actually able to access
03:16the information or the material on the garment?
03:19I really love the fact that even when we are designing the messages on the garments,
03:24it's usually centered around, like, advocacy around
03:28how do we include persons with disabilities?
03:31Like, the last garment I had was written,
03:34the less we see with our eyes, the more we see with our hearts.
03:37Angela and Sandra inscribe Braille that carries meaning onto fabric
03:42for the visually impaired.
03:43But to buy those fabrics, shoppers first need some guidance
03:47in picking out their favorite clothes.
03:50Another key element of our adaptive clothing is our QR code tags
03:55that we add to every garment.
03:57So they have the QR code that contains the description of the garment
04:02from the size, the color, the material and the wash and care instructions.
04:08And on the tag, we have Braille reading scan QR.
04:13So for visually impaired users, they know to use their smartphones,
04:17scan the QR code and piggybacking on the mobile assistive technology feature of TalkBack.
04:23Then they're able to hear all that information by audio.
04:28Angela Wanjiko hopes that her role as a visually impaired clothing designer
04:33will contribute to awareness around inclusivity in the fashion industry.
04:37The impact I hope we achieve with Braille adaptive clothing is
04:43first to increase awareness about Braille and Braille literacy.
04:48Braille is important to have within our social spaces
04:51because it allows visually impaired people to participate more.
04:55I believe fashion designers are doing their best to be inclusive.
04:59It may not be in the regard of disability inclusive fashion,
05:03but we have clothes that are size inclusive, gender inclusive.
05:07You have androgynous fashions coming up,
05:10clothing that's targeted towards gender fluid people and trends.
05:16But for disability inclusive clothing, that's adaptive clothing.
05:19It's fairly new.
05:21There hasn't been a lot of research done in the field,
05:24but I know it's something that fashion designers would want to adapt
05:27with enough knowledge about the field.