Fashionistas of all abilities were on hand Monday evening at Sotheby’s Auction House on the Upper East Side of New York to celebrate the first annual Design for Disability Gala to raise funds for the Cerebral Palsy Foundation (CPF).
Thom Browne and Andrew Bolton provided their career advice and talent to the event with Browne serving as a mentor to the students throughout the 5-month competition and as head judge for the evening. His fellow judges included costume designer Ann Roth; psychologist, media commentator, Disability Rights Advocate and model Dr. Danielle Sheypuk; and Ms. Wheelchair America 2016 Dr. Alette Coble-Temple. Thirty-five fashion students presented designs to the judges and five were chosen to produce two outfits from their collection. Finalists each worked with two women with disabilities as their models to unveil their designs at the runway. The competition was inspired to recognize that with innovation and style women with disabilities can look as fashionable and beautiful as what we see in magazines and runway shows.
Anne at the Design for Disability Gala.
As a fashionista at heart, this was a terrific event to showcase that our ability to look and feel good does not depend on how well our body moves. It’s about how well clothes are designed to fit our bodies to move. We all want to live healthy, happy and successful lives. For me that means eating well, looking well and dressing well. I like looking fabulous! The Design for Disability Gala celebrated how women with disabilities look absolutely fabulous with creative, innovative fashion design. The event gained terrific media coverage by Fashion Weekly, Fox5 News New York, Today.com and Racked.com. Kudos to the aspiring designers at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Sotheby’s and Auctioneer C. Hugh Hildesley, the lovely models, CPF Executive Director Richard Ellenson and the entire multi-talented Production Team led by Will White for putting on a spectacular event!
