Gratitude Monday: Fashion awareness

I heard this story on NPR Saturday morning while on my first walk of the day. And it just made me light up: clothing that’s both functional and fashionable being designed for people with various disabilities.

I loved the process involving Air Force vet Anna Smith and Fashion Institute of Technology student Erika Morales—how Morales’s first effort fell short of Smith’s notion of style, and how it evolved from a poncho into something the reporter on air describes as being like origami.

Damn—I’d like to wear something that looks like origami.

Factoring in such things as the different measurements that come from someone seated in a wheelchair (as opposed to standing up), coverage for various degrees of amputation and textiles—this to me is the most magnificent melding of applying technology and design to solve a human problem. And in the process of solving it—of creating something beautiful that confers dignity on the wearer—everyone involved is connected in a new way.

This is indeed something to be grateful for, and I am.