The goal

It was important to Andrew and the curatorial team that ‘Costume Art’ examine historic imbalances in artistic representation within The Met’s collection. They wanted to expand the range of designers’ work featured in the exhibition and The Costume Institute’s holdings, and highlight the connection between art, clothing, and the body across centuries of creative output. 

Cultural spaces have historically excluded the Disabled body, presenting a key opportunity for institutions and organisations to invest, partner, and collaborate to address these absences. A consistent barrier to diverse representation in fashion exhibitions has been the availability of mannequins representing different body types, along with the inflexibility of the mannequin-making process, which often restricts the poses and range available to curators when displaying garments on Disabled bodies. It was a priority for The Costume Institute that the mannequins in ‘Costume Art’ reflect the diversity of embodied experiences with fashion.

Additionally, the department expressed a desire to build upon its existing resources for volunteer guides to help ensure that they were confident and further equipped to discuss disability and support guests with varying access needs.

Our approach

Guided by The Costume Institute, Tilting the Lens applied a holistic approach to the project, utilising four of our core services, research, strategy, design, and training.

Research

To ensure the ‘Disabled Body’ section was as broad and representative as possible, Tilting the Lens researched design archives for disability-related collections and explored the lived experiences of Disabled designers. This research helped inform curatorial’s pairings of fashions with artworks from other Met departments, sparking new conversations about where Disabled bodies have historically been depicted in art.

Strategy

Tilting the Lens provided strategic framing for this section of the exhibition and catalogue, centring themes of Disability Rights, Disability Pride, and Disability Justice. The intentional naming of ‘Disabled Body’ was an exercise in reclamation, designed to challenge ableist euphemisms.

Design

Tilting the Lens participated in trialing an innovative photogrammetry casting process, which allowed diverse mannequins, including a new digital mannequin of Sinéad Burke, to be created for the exhibition. For this project, the ‘cast’ was done in a cylindrical machine, with 175 cameras placed three inches apart, covering the entire surface area. There was a space inside for the model to step into and every part of the body was captured in the centre of the lenses. 

Training

In coordination with The Costume Institute and The Met’s Access team, Tilting the Lens designed and hosted a virtual training programme for the volunteer guides. The sessions covered the models of disability, the use of disability-first terminology, introductions to brief visual descriptions for Blind or low-vision guests, and practical scenarios for supporting visitors who may be over-stimulated or require a place to rest.

Outcome and impact

The ‘Costume Art’ exhibition successfully honours the beauty and validity of the Disabled body, communicating to visitors that disability is an inherent part of the human experience. Pieces by Disabled designers and artists including Justin LeBlanc, Helen Cookman, Lou Linderoth, Nolan Trowe, and Sugandha Gupta are included in the exhibition. The mannequins, which feature polished steel in place of faces, successfully allow visitors to see themselves reflected in the garments and diverse body types. A number of Disabled people’s bodies, including those of Aariana Rose Philip, Sonia Vera, Antwan Tolliver, and Aimee Mullins, are also represented in the exhibition.

A core principle at Tilting the Lens is building legacy memory so that accessibility remains part of an institution’s long-term fabric. To encourage future academic research into the ableism present in design systems, Sinéad Burke donated two garments to the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, ensuring that the Disabled experience remains an accessible resource for future scholars and designers.

The challenge

Disabled people are marginalised and underrepresented in the fashion industry, with barriers including:

• Physical inaccessibility: From fashion retail spaces to global headquarters, to design ateliers and fashion shows, industry space are rarely built with accessibility in mind, creating systemic barriers for the Disabled community.

• Economic exclusion: The Disabled community still experiences a significant employment gap and faces higher living costs, which makes accessing higher education much more difficult.

• Cultural stigma: The continuous underrepresentation of the Disabled community suggests that the fashion industry is not a welcoming environment for Disabled people, either as customers or professionals. 

• Limited access to fashion education for Disabled students: Traditional educational modules are often lacking in multimodal learning approaches and / or adequate access provisions, success for Disabled students can be difficult to achieve. 

• Need for systemic change to include accessibility in workplace environments: The fashion industry is competitive and fast-paced. Key HR mechanisms such as reasonable adjustment plans, disability leave policies, and inclusive and accessible recruitment processes are yet to become standard practice within the industry. This makes it more difficult for Disabled people to be successful in the fashion industry, even after graduation.

The programme was developed in response to these challenges, aiming to recognise the fashion creativity that comes from the Disabled experience. 

Our approach

The project has been designed to be accessible by default. The application process offers accessible formats and accommodates a range of access needs and communication styles, ensuring that everyone can be considered.

Once enrolled, The New School offers Disabled students support and accommodations through the Office of Student Disability Services, which works alongside faculty and students to co-create accessible solutions throughout the academic term.

• Financial support: From tuition fees, living expenses, and access support, the Scholarship financial packages for this programme range from $50,000 to $90,000 USD per year.
• Mentorship opportunities: Students have access to a network of mentors with lived experience of disability. Mentors provide support and guidance, and help students to prepare for their future careers, facilitating discussion, and building confidence.
• Faculty training: In collaboration with Parsons and Disability Student Services, Tilting the Lens designs and develops disability inclusion and accessibility training for full-time faculty members, ensuring that education professionals are ready to welcome Disabled students. The training aims to increase faculty confidence and awareness, and to create a robust framework that guarantees an equitable education system for all. 
• Engaging industry partners and funders in the process: The funders of this project are active participants in supporting our students to have careers, and take their responsibility seriously to shape a more inclusive fashion industry. From industry events to professional development workshops, they are constantly seeking opportunities to support and nurture the students’ network and prospects.

Outcome and impact

Fashion students 

A total of five students have participated in, or are currently undergoing the programme. Two new students will join in September 2026. 

Caity Briare (Graduated in May 2026)

Caity Briare, also known as Ca8ty studied the MFA Fashion Design and Society programme. She is an artist and designer. Her work explores themes of whimsy and humour, which she describes as “wearable art.” Caity has designed accessories for KidSuper’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection and created custom pieces for celebrities. Caity was selected as one of the muses for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund 2025 Challenge, centred on Adaptive Design.

Elijah Turner (Graduated in May 2026)

Elijah studied the MFA Fashion Design and Society programme. His work uses materiality as a storytelling device, exploring dualities and juxtapositions to rethink the role of clothing in contemporary culture. He hopes to pursue design roles in menswear while also developing an art practice in clothing-based sculpture and digital art.

Giani Rocha-Barnes (Graduated)

Giani Rocha-Barnes studied fashion design in the BFA programme. While he spent some time in the Air Force, he used his free time to go to school and start his own brand. Once Giani left the military, he immediately transferred to Parsons to study fashion design which finally began his career. Within his first year of moving to NYC, Giani interned for Willy Chavarria, and the experience he gained truly inspired him.

Hera Ford (Current student)

Hera is studying in the MFA Fashion Design and Society programme. As a neurodivergent designer, she is interested in decolonising design practices that honour sensory diversity and nonlinear ways of making. In 2024, her work was acquired by the RISD Museum. She has been featured in The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Architectural Digest and on the cover of Frederic Magazine.

Khia Williams (Current student)

Khia is studying fashion design in the AAS programme. For Khia, fashion has always been more than clothing—it is a language through which identity, culture, and emotion can be expressed. Her long-term goal is to transition into a full-time design career, using her craft to tell meaningful stories.

Nia Stanford (Current student)

Nia is studying AAS fashion marketing and communications programme. Nia is strongly interested in being a buyer, creative director, editor, fashion marketer, stylist, or working in fashion PR. She had opportunities to visit the H&M Headquarters (Fall 2024) and the Capri Headquarters (Spring 2025), which allowed her to converse with industry executives and hear their experiences. Nia was also part of the backstage team during Fall 2025 New York Fashion Week.

Scaling the programme and education system

With the experience of two student cohorts now under our belts, and a third due to start in September 2026, we are in the process of creating a blueprint to embed accessibility into the structures of higher education. 

Fashion industry 

• Fashion system change: In developing the profile of the programme, and communicating the skill and artistry of our students, the outcomes of the scholarship are encouraging brands and institutions to embed accessibility into their product development and recruitment programmes. 
• Fosters cross-sector collaboration: We understand that by creating pipelines of Disabled talent, there is a greater urgency to ensure that retail stores, offices, design studios and boardrooms within the fashion industry are accessible.

The challenge

ASOS has a strong internal foundation, including an active, passionate Disability and Neurodiversity Employee Resource Group (ERG). They also have many resources in place, such as a wellness plan, communication strategies for workplace success, Disability and Inclusion training, and participation in the Disability Confident Commitment since 2022. 

Despite this base, challenges emerged where good intentions did not fully translate into practice: 

• The wealth of resources and their formats felt overwhelming, with no clear destination for guidance and support on disability, accessibility, and inclusion. 
• There was inconsistency in who received reasonable adjustments and why, depending on the line managers’ awareness and support for the individual. 
• Although an established Disability and Neurodiversity ERG existed, it was not as widely known or promoted as some other ERGs within the organisation. 
• There was still internal fear of “getting it wrong,” and employees at various levels were uncertain about which conversations they could have. 
• The communication between ASOSers and People Experience (PX) about Access to Work could have been clearer at times. One key goal was to improve communication between PX and ASOSers awaiting Access to Work requests, and to identify which reasonable adjustments, tech solutions, or furniture could be implemented internally at ASOS at low cost. 

Access to Work is a UK government grant scheme that provides practical and financial support to help someone get or stay in work if they have a physical or mental health condition or disability. The scheme is under increasing pressure, with long waitlists, which means Disabled employees are often not supported quickly enough to succeed in their roles. 

It’s important to note that inconsistencies in the delivery of reasonable adjustments did not stem from a lack of empathy or care. Often, Line Managers were unsure where to find the necessary support and training to both comply legally and provide appropriate support. Initiating conversations and communication lines should come from the Line Manager, and the Disabled employee should not bear this responsibility alone. This is why we explored the reasonable adjustments process in more depth, offering guidance and support to both Line Managers and employees requesting accommodations. 

The approach

The scope of work was divided into several phases, beginning with meetings with a core People Experience team led by the brilliant Gemma Harvey. 

We reviewed materials related to the employee journey, from recruitment to employment, including policies, process documents, and resources on disability, Neurodiversity, and inclusion. After evaluating these materials, we offered recommendations and suggested improvements. 

Then we directly engaged (via video calls or in person) with ASOS employees who identified as Disabled or Neurodivergent, as well as allies. This provided us with a broader understanding of the workplace culture and ensured that our recommendations were informed by lived experiences and co-created with stakeholders.

Our Process

We approached this project with openness and transparency, believing that having all information, whether positive or negative, would allow us to deliver the most comprehensive feedback, recommendations, and roadmap toward a more accessible and inclusive workplace that supports disability and Neurodiversity.

• We established a strong communication channel with Gemma and the chair of the Disability and Neurodiversity ERG.
• We were entrusted with reading and reviewing internal and external communications, policies, and processes.
• Stakeholder engagement was crucial to ensure lived experience remained central to the project and that co-creation was integral. In simple terms, we made sure our relevant recommendations were not only backed by feedback from Disabled employees, but also enhanced by it.
• We adopted flexible working patterns, focusing on the most obvious and impactful change -improved internal communication and support around access to work, and a clearer, more transparent process for reasonable adjustments.
• To make these efforts effective in practice, training for line managers, supportive resources, and clear communication of the why behind these initiatives were essential. 

Outcome and impact

A key insight from our one-to-one interviews and survey results was the need for greater clarity within the organisation. While ASOS possessed a number of really helpful resources and materials relating to disability, Neurodiversity, and inclusion, they lacked proper organisation and a clear goal. 

After our initial work together, including recommendations and a roadmap, we were excited to propose a new phase of an essential project to establish a transparent and accountable process for implementing reasonable adjustments. 

This phase of work also involved enhancing information and communication between ASOSers and People Experience regarding Access to Work and creating a central hub for disability and accessibility resources. We also recognised that ASOS could foster and demonstrate a culture rooted in confidence, understanding, and empathy. 

In December 2025, ASOS introduced the ASOS Disability Hub – a dedicated space designed to support and empower ASOS employees who are Disabled, Neurodivergent, or managing long-term health conditions, as well as allies and advocates. 

The Hub includes: 

• Reasonable Adjustments Plan – helping identify and agree on adjustments that remove barriers and enable ASOSers to thrive at work
• Manager Guidance – practical steps for managers to create an inclusive environment
• Neurodiversity Assessment & Support – details of the new AXA Health pathway for faster assessments and early support for ASOSers and their families
• Accessible Technology – tools and technology to help ASOSers work more effectively
• Disability Confident Committed – what Level 1 means for ASOS and the actions that are being taken. 

Other outcomes were: 

• People Experience now actively advocates for and supports Access to Work requests, offering broader assistance to ASOS employees throughout the implementation process and gaining a more comprehensive understanding of it. 
• We co-developed a process for reasonable adjustments for both PX and Line Managers, along with an employee journey to clarify the stages, approval, and implementation. 
• There is more communication when a reasonable adjustment is not approved, including the process for proposing alternative solutions. 
• A decision-making matrix has been created to serve as a support tool, guiding line managers and PX in determining what is reasonable, exploring solutions, and maintaining dialogue with the ASOS employee requesting the adjustment. 

This is a long-term effort, and change takes time. However, these initiatives are designed not only to support individuals in their day-to-day roles but also to promote career progression and longevity, fostering a stronger sense of unity within the ASOS community.