The fashion world is often built around flash-in-the-pan trends. But today, a growing number of designers, models, and activists are hoping to create longer-lasting movements by using the runway to elevate marginalized models, showcase sustainability, and even bedazzle a few adoptable dogs in the process.
Five ways people are transforming the fashion industry for the better
Vietnam Hosts Country’s First Fashion Show For Disabled Models
In August, Vietnam hosted its first Disability Fashion Show. The inaugural event, held at the National Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi, was part of a larger nationwide project titled “Wardrobe of Kindness” and featured over 50 models from across the country with an range of disabilities.
One model, Le Thi Dien, told Nhân Dân Newspaper that she had never expected it would be possible to participate in a fashion show where she could wear custom-designed clothes and bring her wheelchair on stage.
“This program has helped me, and many fellow people with disabilities, gain confidence and motivation to continue pursuing what we love and live meaningfully,” she said.
Disabled& Founder Puts Limb Differences On Display
April Lockhart wants to see brands work with disabled models and creators year-round, “not just once.” That’s why the 30-year-old, who has a limb difference as a result of amniotic band syndrome, created Disabled& — a creative community that platforms people with disabilities at fashion events and runways across the industry.
“I’ve been doing events for the disabled community over the last few years,” Lockhart told Who What Wear. “The first time I was ever in a room with more than two other disabled people at a time was September 2023, and I didn’t realize how much that would change things for me. I couldn’t get the itch out of my head. I needed to bring people together.”
Adoptable Dogs Strut The Catwalk In Fashion Student’s Fundraiser
Before graduating from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in May, Karlee Angel was already putting her fashion merchandising and design degree to good use.
To support the Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center, Angel galvanized her fashion-forward classmates to design “adopt me” vests for dog models at her annual The Struttin’ for PAWS adoption fashion show.
“Animals have always offered me a sense of purpose and comfort, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to give back to them and help them find their purpose,” Angel told Virginia Tech News.
Model-Turned-Paralympian No Longer Covers Up On The Runway
Jack Eyers has been breaking records for a decade straight. In 2015, he made history as the first disabled man to walk in New York Fashion Week. Three years later, Eyers became the first amputee to be crowned in the Mr. England beauty pageant. And in 2024, the model-turned-athlete won a silver medal for paracanoeing in his first Paralympic Games.
Eyers, who had an above-the-knee amputation at 16 years old due to proximal femoral focal deficiency, said he’s come a long way from the kid who used to cover up his disability on the catwalk out of embarrassment.
“It made me think about why I was really doing it,” he told The New York Times. “To inspire others to like who you are, regardless of how you look or sound.”
Art School Students Make The Grade With Cardboard Couture
At Willamette University’s Pacific Northwest College of Art, incoming freshmen are required to take a 3D design course. And for 15 years, Professor David Eckard has been challenging his students to create “Cardboard Couture” for an end-of-semester runway show.
In addition to being sustainable, Eckard told Oregon Live that the assignment — which inspires cardboard-cut skirts, wings, boots, vests, and head-to-toe attire — “came out of a kind of respect for freshman budgets.”
“There’s no risk, no commitment. We aren’t carving with ebony wood,” he said. “If it doesn’t work out, no problem. We just go to the dumpster and find more cardboard.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2025 Fashion Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image via Disabled&/Jessica Steddom
