Design from Adeline Heilman for the “iCan Do Anything” show at last year’s New York Fashion Week. Photo: Christopher Gannon / Iowa State University
Writer: Brooklyn Draisey
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2025 by Iowa Capital Dispatch, a nonprofit news organization. We’ve republished it here with permission.
When Manu Smriti watched clothes she designed and made being modeled on a New York City runway last fall, what made her the happiest was seeing the joy and comfort of the person wearing them.
The model, 14-year-old Raffy Paulino, nicknamed Rockstar, wore a flannel shirt, yellow T-shirt and jeans — all designed with his interests and needs in mind. He uses a wheelchair and other technology for movement, Smriti said, and he loves music, gaming and the color yellow.
“I was happy seeing him happy,” said Smriti, a hybrid doctoral student at Iowa State University studying apparel, merchandising and design. “He looked happy on the runway and confident, and all the pieces were showing their functionality and aesthetic.”
ISU students and faculty helped get children with brain-related disabilities runway-ready last summer by designing garments to suit their medical, comfort and style needs. Recycling existing clothing and utilizing tools housed in the university, the designers crafted adjustable jackets with hidden vents, detachable tulle skirts and more that were sent to New York City for the “iCAN Do Anything” Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week.
Rachel Eike, an ISU associate professor of apparel, events and hospitality management, said the International Institute for the Brain (iBRAIN) reached out to her last year about partnering for the fashion show, and the timing worked out well for her hybrid summer course covering digital technologies in textile and apparel.
Before being matched by iBRAIN with a client, the students researched adaptive apparel; interviewed designers, therapists and others; sourced specialty materials and filled out a survey with their own interests and preferences. Once connected with a family, the group thrifted clothing to transform into functional and fashionable garments.
Students in the class were exposed to challenges they hadn’t considered before in making clothes that work for people with medical or other needs that rule out traditional clothing cuts and styles.
“I think it was just really eye-opening for the students, (to see) all the products that really are needed. I thought it was great,” Eike said. “And then it’s always fun to, you know, see your pieces worn by the individual that you’re designing for.”
Clothes were later sent back to ISU for students to alter, document and submit to exhibitions, Eike said. The group also developed an “open educational resource” that included their methods and practices.
Adaptive aesthetics
Each of the students had different wishes and needs from the clients and their caregivers to weave into their pieces, ranging from functional to fashionable. For Smriti, that meant learning what Paulino likes and what his mother would find helpful in dressing him.
Smriti said she crafted three garments for the runway outfit — jeans, a T-shirt and an overshirt. In addition to switching out old zippers for magnetic ones and adding side loops to make them easier to put on, Smriti used a laser etching machine to put Nintendo videogame characters Mario and Luigi on the tops of the legs so Paulino could see them.
While she did create patches for the shirt, which said “music mode” and “game mode” for him to pick depending on his mood, Smriti said she didn’t embroider anything directly onto his clothes to avoid sensory issues. Instead she added hook and loop fasteners to the T-shirt so Rockstar could attach and remove his patches as necessary.
The Ph.D. student also modified an overshirt to have a mesh back with a flap of fabric over it in order to give him greater breathability.
In her conversations with Rockstar, who is nonverbal and communicates with gestures and through a tablet, and his mother, Smriti said what they wanted most was to have him be comfortable and happy with his clothes.
“Everybody wants to belong, and teenagers (especially), right? At that age, you want to have that contemporary fashion,” Smriti said. “You don’t want to wear baggy clothes just because they are comfortable. You want to have something to put on that makes you look presentable and represents your identity and expression.”
Raffy “Rockstar” Paulino, center, modeled custom-made clothes by Manu Smriti. Photo: Courtesy of Ibrain
For Adeline Heilman, an ISU student completing her bachelor’s degree in fashion design and marketing and starting her master’s degree in apparel, merchandising and design concurrently, committing to the project meant designing an adaptive outfit fit for a princess.
Ten-year-old Cielo Chadan Cando uses a wheelchair and an abdominal feeding tube, Heilman said, and has struggled in the past to find a dress she likes that can also accommodate her needs. The ISU student ended up outfitting her with a denim dress, poofy tulle sleeves and skirt, as well as a wheelchair bag because “a princess needs a fancy purse.”
Starting with a denim dress she found, Heilman said she removed the side seams and replaced them with magnets so Cielo’s abdominal tube would still be accessible. She added snaps, hidden under decorative flowers, to attach a removable tulle skirt to the front of the dress to prevent sores. The same method was employed to add poofy sleeves to the dress, and the girl’s bag was decorated with detachable patches.
Heilman said her favorite part of watching the livestreamed fashion show was seeing how excited Cielo looked on the runway. When the clothes were returned to Heilman, she made some alterations then sent them back to Cielo.
Cielo Chadan Cando showed off clothes designed by Adeline Heilman. Photo: Courtesy of Ibrain
“I also got to see pictures and videos of her opening the package for the first time. It was really awesome seeing how excited she was about both the dress and the purse,” Heilman said. “Definitely made all the work that went into this class worth it.”
Having previously worked as a certified nursing assistant and having heard it from others, Heilman said she was aware before taking the course that adaptive clothing can be prohibitively expensive for people with disabilities, and it is hard to find outside of major cities. This gave her a passion for adaptive fashion, she said, and led her to taking Eike’s course.
However, she said she still came into the course thinking that there could be a one-size-fits-all solution to the need for adaptive clothing. Working with Cielo to meet her needs showed her differently. Both she and Smriti said people with physical or medical needs deserve to have someone with empathy help make their clothing fit all of their needs.
“I feel like this class really taught me how much specific solutions are needed for each person who may need adaptive fashion, and how important it is for these people to have access to tailors or seamstresses who understand adaptive fashion and can give them those specific changes needed for their daily lives.”
Brooklyn Draisey is a Report for America corps member covering higher education. She previously worked for the Quad-City Times and The Gazette covering topics ranging from business to culture.
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