Clothing labels are small instruction manuals: they indicate what materials a garment is made of, how it should be washed, and how it should be cared for to keep it in good condition. These practical instructions help us look after each garment. However, in the world of fashion, labels can also be invisible: they implicitly separate bodies that fit conventional designs from those whose owners still struggle to find suitable clothing.
For many people, getting dressed is not as simple as choosing a garment that matches their style and finding the right size. Sometimes, clothing does not meet their needs because of health conditions, disabilities, or reduced mobility. In other cases, they cannot find sizes that fit their bodies, whether smaller or larger than those typically catered for by the industry. Some people also experience discomfort when certain fabrics, seams, or labels come into contact with their skin. Others need garments that accommodate a medical tube or a prosthesis, while some temporarily struggle to get dressed following an injury or surgery.
Even something as routine as fastening a button, zipping up a garment, or slipping an arm into a sleeve can become an obstacle. Although people’s needs vary, they all point to the same reality: the fashion industry does not always take into account the diversity of the people who wear—or could wear—its garments.
In response to these barriers, brands committed to adaptive clothing have emerged in Barcelona in recent years. Their garments feature magnetic fastenings, Velcro, and strategically placed zippers to make dressing easier, as well as accessible labels for people with visual impairments. Major international brands have also begun taking steps in this direction, with dedicated collections such as Tommy Hilfiger’s adaptive line and Primark’s range developed in collaboration with designer Victoria Jenkins. Zalando, meanwhile, has introduced accessibility initiatives.
However, the emergence of these brands and dedicated collections raises a fundamental question for the industry: if solutions exist to make clothing meet a range of needs, why are they still confined to specific lines rather than integrated into mainstream collections? Why keep clothing designed to include people separate from the rest of the fashion industry?
Because, as Xavier de Balaguer, president of MODAFAD, defends, “the democratization of fashion is not making it more economical, but making it accessible to everyone”. However, this accessibility remains a pending issue, both in stores and on runways, where diversity is still far from being common. Although some brands have been incorporating models of different sizes and ages and even people with disabilities in recent years, the presence of bodies that deviate from traditional canons is still presented as a revolution, as something out of the ordinary.
However, for Rut Turró, an expert in inclusive design and accessibility in fashion, and founder of MovingMood, a consultancy specialized in advising and training companies and institutions in these areas, the change must begin in the way garments are conceived. Instead of creating specific collections for people with disabilities, she argues that brands should take diversity into account from the beginning of the creative process. “I don't believe in the concept of adapted fashion, because all design should take into account, from the beginning and without the need to specify it, the different needs of people,” she maintains.
An idea shared by Emma Lafoz, creator of NiaLafoz, a brand born in Barcelona that designs garments for women of different body types without sacrificing style, comfort or functionality and without having to reduce it to a single body. “People don't want to be separated, classified or labeled within a category that society considers abnormal or outside established standards. By creating specific clothing for certain bodies, there is a risk of separating them and continuing to point them out as different,” she defends.
When a product is designed with different abilities and needs in mind, its benefits can reach a wider audience. In fact, Turró argues that inclusion can also generate economic opportunities by broadening the range of consumers. However, “when a product is classified as adapted, a person without a disability no longer wants to buy it, because they feel it is not for him or her,” she points out. The challenge, therefore, is to incorporate diversity from the beginning of the design process, without the need to label garments as adapted or relegate them to specific collections.
Pioneers in fashion without barriers
The long-term goal is not for specialized brands to disappear, as they play an important role in innovating and paving the way, but for the solutions they offer to cease being exceptional and gradually become incorporated into conventional fashion. Free From Style, one of the pioneering brands in Barcelona to bet on adapted clothing, is an example of this path. The project was born from a personal experience of its co-founder, Carolina Asensio, who launched the brand together with fashion journalist Marina Vergés.
Asensio's brother suffered a stroke at 49 and lost much of his mobility. As a result of that experience, Asensio discovered the difficulties in finding garments that met his new needs without having to resort to orthopedic or tracksuit clothing, or giving up a style with which he felt identified. With no prior experience in the fashion world and after a professional career dedicated to computer science, she decided to look for a solution. “Until it touches you closely, unfortunately, we don't realize the importance of truly committing to inclusion,” she reflects.
The brand works with both its own collections and custom-made garments and has specialized in trousers for people who use wheelchairs. Designs that have even taken to the runway: parading in two editions of 080 Barcelona Fashion, in 2023 and 2024, with garments developed together with designer Manuel Bolaño, demonstrating that functionality is not at odds with aesthetics or trends.
“Adapting a garment is as simple, and at the same time as complicated, as taking into account small details that can make life easier for another person”. Sometimes, it is enough to replace conventional buttons with magnetic closures or velcro, which are easier to manipulate for older people or those with some type of reduced mobility. But if these are relatively simple changes, why do big brands, like Tommy Hilfiger or Primark, incorporate them only in specific collections instead of integrating them into their usual lines?
Precisely from that reflection NiaLafoz was born, a women's fashion brand created by Emma Lafoz in Sabadell in 2023, which aims to design for diverse bodies without pigeonholing its garments into specific categories. Its objective is that any woman —and even man, because although it focuses on the female line, anyone can wear its garments— can find clothes that meet their needs without having to give up comfort, functionality or aesthetics.
The idea arose during her final degree project, for which she designed a collection aimed at people with tetraplegia. From this experience, she decided to go beyond a collection aimed at a specific group and create a brand designed for all women, regardless of whether their bodies fit usual standards or whether they have specific needs when dressing. “It is not about designing a specific garment for a specific person, but about designing with the maximum number of possible bodies in mind”, she argues.
This philosophy translates into small details that facilitate the act of dressing without sacrificing the aesthetics of the garments. The brand has developed and registered 3D-printed magnetic buttons that allow clothes to be fastened more easily, maintaining the appearance of conventional buttons. It also incorporates strategic openings that make it easier to put arms into sleeves and versatile designs that combine comfort and style. The brand sells both online and in its physical store (Torrijos, 22), which opened in March 2025.
Costs and awareness: the barriers of inclusive fashion
The work of brands like Free From Style and NiaLafoz points, according to Joana Ortega, president of the Cercle de la Moda, a recently created entity promoted by independent professionals to reflect on the future of the sector, these brands represent an opportunity for Catalan fashion. “Barcelona can aspire to become a benchmark in adapted, sustainable, circular, and inclusive fashion,” she defends.
However, from her experience at the helm of her brand, Lafoz observes that, although inclusion has been gaining ground in the discourse of many brands, it is still far from translating into a real change in the industry as a whole. “It is still more a discourse —which sometimes manifests itself through specific collections— than a real and integral commitment,” she laments. The designer finds a parallelism with the message about sustainability, which has also been gaining presence in company communication, without that commitment always translating into changes throughout the production process.
Moving from words to deeds, both in sustainability and inclusion, requires reviewing the entire production process, from research and design to manufacturing and distribution. In the case of adapted clothing, it also implies continuous learning and listening to the needs of those who use it. “It is a continuous learning process that requires listening to and understanding the needs of different customers,” says Asensio. A continuous commitment that, Lafoz acknowledges, can also mean an increase in costs.
The NiaLafoz case shows how small changes, such as incorporating magnetic buttons, can complicate the production process. When workshops are not familiar with these systems, they must adapt their manufacturing methods, learn new techniques, and dedicate more time to each garment, which can increase costs. Added to this is the brand's commitment to local production and collaboration with workshops that guarantee responsible labor conditions, factors that also affect the final price. Lafoz believes, however, that this extra cost could be reduced if more workshops incorporated these techniques into their usual work, something that would be easier if demand from brands increased.
However, beyond costs, Turró points out that the main barrier remains the lack of awareness. Her professional experience has led her to work more in international markets than in Spain, especially in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, where she has also commercialized her sewing machine adapted for people with disabilities. A difference that, in her opinion, reflects that adapted fashion does not advance at the same pace in all markets and that Barcelona still has a long way to go.
On this path, brands have a key responsibility: to design from the outset with the diversity of bodies and needs in mind, instead of limiting these solutions to specific collections. But Lafoz reminds us that consumers also play an important role. “Ultimately, consumers also have decision-making power. If we want these brands to consolidate, it is not enough to defend inclusion in discourse: we must also demonstrate it with our purchasing decisions,” says the designer.
"If clothes were designed for more bodies and needs, they could reach more people, be reused for longer, and reduce the need to create specific collections"
Public administrations can also contribute to this change through aid, promotional measures, and policies that promote accessibility from the early design phases. Even a regulation that forced brands to incorporate these criteria would also allow inclusion to stop depending solely on the initiative of individual projects and become a shared commitment for the entire industry.
The responsibility, therefore, is shared: it involves brands, consumers, and also institutions. For Turró, the path involves “producing less, but producing better.” The expert advocates for fashion that stops classifying and labeling, both people and garments: “if clothes were designed for more bodies and needs, they could reach more people, be reused for longer, and reduce the need to create specific collections,” she concludes.