Hungarian fashion designer Lili Pázmány has unveiled an accessible streetwear collection that embraces Y2K style to reach the ultimate in functionality.
Now based in Berlin, Pázmány created the project to break down the barriers faced by wheelchair users such as her mother, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008.
“My mother is my muse. We are very close and always have been,” Pázmány told The Calvert Journal. “But she faces a lot of problems every time we go out somewhere. We have to check things such as accessible toilets in advance. Hungary still isn’t barrier-free.”
Pázmány’s capsule, Unobstructed, is designed to allow disabled fashion-lovers to dress themselves easily and independently while remaining seated. Its bold Y2K details double as functional as well as aesthetic, with chunky straps that help wearers to move their legs into place. Other design features include clothes which can be put on and fastened easily from the front, and cuts which rise at the back, seeing off any chance that the fabric could get caught in the wheelchair itself.
Wheelchair users — including models, beauty queens, and paralympians — guided Pázmány through the process, giving feedback that allowed the designer to create dedicated easy-open fasteners using a 3D printer.
“All of the women I worked with love fashion and having clothes they can enjoy,” says Pázmány. “This collection was really made for them.”