Retailers Add Adaptive Apparel To Their Brand Offerings

To make the clothing industry more inclusive of children with disabilities, major fashion brands are debuting adaptive clothing lines. Tommy Hilfiger, Target and Zappos have all launched these types of lines in recent years, while Kohl’s is the latest retailer to do so, CNBC reported.

Target brought adaptive apparel to its assortment for toddlers as well as kids with disabilities to its Cat & Jack line in 2017, while Zappos launched Zappos Adaptive the same year. And, in June, Kohl’s reportedly said it would debut adaptive clothing to its three biggest children’s brands. The clothing will have features such as sensory-friendly and wheelchair-friendly options.

“This new assortment is a direct response to an unmet customer need and will allow us to better serve our customers and their families.” Kohl’s Chief Merchandising Officer Doug Howe said in a written statement, according to the report. “Our product development teams took great care in thoughtfully designing features for ease and functionality, while ensuring every product had the same quality and style that our customers love.”

Adaptative clothing can be very expensive, and Target keeps prices down by leveraging fabric that it has in production as well as making large quantities of clothing. Target also debuted Halloween costumes such as a princess costume that has a wheelchair cover that has a carriage-like appearance. The retailer took in insights from shoppers as well as organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind and Pageant of Hope, which has beauty pageants for children who have disabilities, when it launched its adaptive line.

In separate adaptive clothing news, ASOS reportedly found itself catching a lot of media attention for its newest addition to its line per reports last year: a rainbow tie-dyed waterproof jumpsuit engineered for those who use a wheelchair for mobility. The jumpsuit was designed with input from Chloe Ball-Hopkins, a Paralympian, who was also said to be the main model for the apparel item.