Touch up: The inclusive photoshoot was part of the British Council's focus on disability in the arts.

Diversity and inclusivity have been the talk of the town in the fashion world, with more and more campaigns featuring a diverse array of subjects of varying ethnicities, gender expressions, ages and sizes.

While most fashion campaigns feature able-bodied models, those with disabilities are slowly gaining representation in glossy magazines and on the runway.

Tommy Hilfiger, for example, launched the Tommy Adaptive line in 2017 with clothes specially designed for ease of putting on.

On the catwalk, this September’s New York Fashion Week kicked off with models of all abilities at the Runway of Dreams event, while the rise of Madeline Stuart as the first professional model with Down syndrome has shown that everyone can be a star.

However, in Indonesia, shows and campaigns featuring models with disabilities are a rather rare sight.

However, progress is slowly being made with initiatives such as last year’s British Council inclusive show at Jakarta Fashion Week (JFW) featuring three models with disabilities side by side with professionals clad in clothes by labels Sean Sheila and Teatum Jones.

This year, the British Council returns for another show on the main stage of JFW. The presentation on Thursday will feature five models with disabilities posing and preening on stage, this time wearing designs by local label Cotton Ink and London-based art studio Intoart.

On the eve of JFW on Monday, the British Council organized a photo shoot with all five models.

Images from the shoot will be used to highlight both the collections as well as the wider campaign by the British Council to increase the representation and participation of people with disabilities in the arts.

Camelia Harahap, British Council Indonesia head of arts and creative industries, said the council had been focusing on inclusivity and disability in the arts for the past three years, although not specifically in fashion.

“In Britain, we’ve seen that inclusive art and disability arts have been some of the rapidly developing key sectors. When we started the disability focus program in Indonesia, we wanted to ‘mainstream’ the issue of disability to other creative industries,” she said.

Camelia said the fashion sector was interesting because of the commonly held view that it was exclusive and glamorous, only being enjoyed by a select few.

“However, we see fashion as universal, and we wanted to change that perception of exclusivity and state that fashion should be for everyone.”

For Sam Jones, program manager and cofounder of Intoart, the challenge of making fashion more inclusive lay in the support system. 

“It’s about supporting designers, allowing designers to build a body of work. That includes high quality education and programs where people are encouraged to develop collections and partnership with professionals,” he said.

Established in 2000, the art studio works with people with learning disabilities across various mediums, ranging from ceramics to textiles.

For the JFW show, Intoart brought nine looks by resident artists Ntiense Eno-Amooquaye, Yoshiko Phillips and Andre Williams.

The artists’ works were translated into designs in collaboration with London-based designer Holly Fulton. 

Jones also noted that there was a real interest among British designers to work with the artists of Intoart.

“It’s just about having that in place, that resource.” (ste)

— Photos By JP/Donny Fernando

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