The Joy of Being Heard and Feeling Seen

Hello. I am Victoria Jenkins, a designer and Disability advocate.

I studied fashion design at Istituto Marangoni and graduated with a 1st in 2008.

I have worked in the industry predominantly as a garment engineer but also a pattern cutter and technical designer for suppliers as well as brands like Jack Wills, Allsaints and Victoria Beckham. I went freelance 4 years ago to better manage my health and to pursue Unhidden and if I do have client work it's mostly with fashion start ups now.

I nearly died in 2012 after an undiagnosed ulcer burst in my stomach; that lead to further diagnoses of conditions within my digestive system, the combination of which making me Disabled.

Unhidden is an adaptive fashion brand for people with Disabilities.

Made using deadstock cloth, the small capsule collection for launch is produced at a factory in Bulgaria that is women owned and run.

We will also offer a service to adapt customers’ existing clothing to prevent waste and preserve peoples wardrobes- because 80% of people with Disabilities are not born that way.

We will also run workshops teaching customers how to adapt their clothing so no one is left out from accessing comfortable, stylish clothing that works for their body and gives them back their dignity and self expression.

It was during a 10 day hospital stay in 2016 that I first considered adaptive wear- a fellow patient had survived ovarian cancer only to have the chemo destroy her bowels. She had a stoma, a PICC line and was being fitted for TPN- and every time the doctors came to her she had to get completely naked; I couldn’t bear it. I began to research adaptive wear from my own hospital bed, and found the limited clothing on offer mostly aimed at older customers or from a carers’ perspective. It certainly wasn’t fashionable and nothing was sustainable- things have come a long way since though and thankfully new brands are coming forward every day.

Disability.

Not a word commonly associated with joy, or anything positive really- I am hoping I can change that for you, you lovely reader!

I wasn’t born Disabled, and my journey into it has had many twists and turns that were not so joyful-but where I and this community is now, we have so much to be cheerful for; bear with me while I explain that.

Covid has levelled (some) playing fields for us.

The wider population has now spent months living as we do- stuck inside, unable to socialise, to see friends or family. There is a greater level of empathy- YAY!

Mental health and the need for social interaction is now being placed in much higher regards for the benefit of all!

Japan has just appointed its first ‘Minister for Loneliness’.

Work- while obviously it has been dreadful for everyone, and things are uncertain, the Disabled community has been denied one big, reasonable adjustment for years;

remote working.

OH THE IRONY.

As soon as we all needed it- it happened in a matter of weeks and means that companies can no longer deny that request- it has opened up the job market to so many of us in a wonderful way!

Accessible events- everything went online. 

The first weekend of the first lockdown, I could attend a virtual rave for the first time in years, from the comfort of my own sofa thanks to Defected. 

(Nightclubs rarely have seating and I cannot stand for long without pain)

I could also go to art classes (I also started my own- we will come to that) that might have been too far away or in another town or city altogether- geography was no longer a barrier!

Accessible venues.

Due to the need for more space between shoppers, stores and hospitality venues have had to widen aisles, create more space to avoid close contact- which is what all wheelchair users need!

There has been a focus on inclusion due to so many of the events that have happened within the last year.

I have been an adaptive designer (fashion for people with Disabilities) for 3 years but I only launched in November 2020- because I had the time to work on it away from having to work for other people.

In the last 3 months, Disability is being included as it always should have been in any discussion about inclusion and diversity.

Any company or brand using the word inclusion without hiring, working with, designing for or including people with Disabilities is going to get called out.  A lot. 

And finally, the joy of being heard and feeling seen for people that have been hidden away for so long is the biggest reason I have for being cheerful in this moment.

I will leave you with the very silly, very funny, wildly unsuitable-for-children art class I created- Phallic Fruits.

There are drawing challenges, a raunchy soundtrack and some seriously saucy fruit and if that can’t make you grin even a little bit I’m not sure what would.

Victoria Jenkins

Founder andCreative Director
https://unhiddenclothing.com/