TALKING FASHION
A tribute to the ROM’s adaptable fashion exhibit, featuring designer Izzy Camilleri and Barb Turnbull,
Last summer, the Royal Ontario Museum unveiled Fashion Follows Form: Designs for Sitting, an exhibition highlighting the work of Canadian designer Izzy Camilleri, whose label, IZ Adaptive, offers fashion to people in wheelchairs. Last week, the exhibition was honoured by the prestigious Costume Society of America. Camilleri discusses her role as a style pioneer, and why dressing celebrities ain’t all that.
You began your career in the mainstream arena. What prompted the move into adaptive fashion?
I got a call from (the Star’s late writer) Barbara Turnbull. She was in a wheelchair and was looking for someone who could create a shearling cape. I did that and then several more custom items. Working with Barb, I got such an education in the (clothing-specific) challenges that people with disabilities deal with. I really had no idea and then all of a sudden people were calling my designs revolutionary and referring to me as a pioneer.
What are the most common challenges?
The mainstream clothing that we buy is cut and drafted for standing. It’s something we don’t think twice about. When we sit down, our clothes get all messed up. What I mean by that is that with pants, they cut you in your gut and they ride down at the back. Or with a long coat, it will get all bunchy at the front. Jeans can be very dangerous because of the back pockets that can cause pressure sores. That’s how Christopher Reeve died.
Before you came along, the slim pickings that were available to people in wheelchairs didn’t tend to place much of a premium on style.
A lot of it looks like it was designed in the early ’70s and never updated. It’s clothing that baby boomers today wouldn’t be caught dead in. In Canada, 84 per cent of people who break their back and become paralyzed are between 18 and 34. They’re young, they don’t want to wear clothing that looks like it should belong to their great-grandfather.
IZ Adaptive launched six years ago. Has the fashion industry become more accessible to disabled people over that period?
I think definitely people with disabilities are getting more recognition in the fashion world. The past three New York Fashion Weeks have included at least one person with a disability going down the runway. There was also the Diesel ad from last year that featured the stylist and blogger Jillian Mercado (with her wheelchair). She looked awesome and there was this hot model sitting on the floor and leaning against her chair. That got a lot of attention. At the same time, the clothing itself isn’t being adapted in terms of cut, pattern. Our closest competitor is a company in Germany. It’s still a really underserved market.
In the past you have designed clothing for Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, David Bowie. Do you ever miss seeing your clothing on the world’s most photographed red carpets?
I don’t miss it, and I do still get to do that kind of work a little bit. It’s not comparable to Angelina Jolie, but right now I’m working with Gord Downie from the Tragically Hip. I’ve just made him another piece.
In Canada, Gord Downie is Angelina Jolie!
He is really such a lovely and talented person. It’s a pleasure to work with him. I have also worked recently with Daniel Radcliffe, Jully Black. The thing about all that is that those people have so many options. The people who I serve now have no options.
My clients will cry because they were never able to wear a trench coat before, or jeans. This is life-changing stuff.
It’s fun to work with famous people, but what I’m doing now is much bigger than dressing Angelina Jolie.