Mainstream fashion, lifestyle, and home goods labels, retailers, and specialist brands have increasingly been creating adaptive products to serve consumers who have disabilities due to medical conditions or age. Over time, celebrity collaborations in this space have also grown, albeit slowly, driven by actors, athletes, and others who have been diagnosed with a disability themselves and want to create functional and stylish items that meet their own needs and those of people in similar situations:
- Earlier this year, identical twin brothers and former NFL players Shaquem and Shaquill Griffin, who are represented for licensing by Earthbound Brands, launched Y.O.U. by the Griffins x Volto Santo, an adaptive clothing capsule pairing their new lifestyle label and Volto Santo, a brand founded by a paralympic athlete. The fashion-forward activewear in the Y.O.U. collection features magnetic zippers, drawstrings, adjustable openings, and other features. Shaquem had his left hand amputated at age four and was the first one-handed athlete in the NFL, where he played for four years.
- Brooke Eby, a TikTok influencer diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), paired with the adaptive clothing label Silverts in 2025. The B.E. Collection was created with a particular focus on fashion for young adults like Eby, who are sometimes neglected in adaptive product ranges. She was diagnosed in 2022 and has gained a large following for her content documenting the challenges and changes in her life, much of it infused with a sense of humor.
- Jamey Perry, a TV writer, actor, and wheelchair basketball player, launched a limited-time collection of fashion for wheelchair users with JCPenney in 2024. The inclusively sized Jamey Perry for JCPenney collection included dress slacks, blazers, blouses, and cocktail outfits with features such as easy-access zippers, strategically placed pockets, breathable fabrics to reduce irritation on the skin, waistband loops, shortened sleeves, and extended back rises, all to improve the quality of life for people seated in a wheelchair, with a focus on style as well as function.
- Actress Selma Blair, who has muscular dystrophy, partnered with Isaac Mizrahi in October 2023 for an accessible line of stylish clothing with QVC, for whom she served as its first Brand Ambassador for Accessibility. Features like easy-open necklines, stretch fabrics, magnetic closures, and flat seams were incorporated in consultation with the disability community. The launch featured 15 styles encompassing shirts, pants (including a wheelchair fit), sweaters, jackets, and accessories in an inclusive size range, with more drops thereafter. Blair also serves as creative director of Guide Beauty, taking the position in 2022. The company makes cosmetics that are designed to be easier for people with fine motor and dexterity challenges to apply.
Most of these celebrities were inspired to enter into these collaborations because they had a hard time finding adaptive clothing for their own use that was both functional and fashionable. Their expertise comes from being a customer themselves, and their involvement lends credibility in the eyes of the target audience.
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