Framing Disability in Fashion

Abstract

The fashion industry has long neglected people with disabilities, opting instead for a cast of uniformly slender and (overwhelmingly) White models. But recent efforts toward diversity and inclusion suggest that change may be underway. This chapter examines these changes with a focus on fashion media published online. Specifically, this chapter looks to a collection of 50 editorial articles published by Teen Vogue between 2018 and 2020 to determine how disability is framed for consumers. It does this within a broader discussion on the cultural logics and industry conventions that shape the production of fashion content. The findings reported here suggest that online fashion media may hold unique opportunities for diversity and inclusion, with stories and images that cast disability in new and less narrow terms than have been previously reported. These include terms related to the importance of representation across cultural industries and stories that center disability rights in focus. Moving forward, more work is needed to ensure that this representation carriers forward in cultural productions within and outside of the fashion industry.