Three years ago, when Team Canada appeared at the opening ceremonies of the the athletes were dressed in sleek white jeans. They may have looked good, but for some Paralympians on the team, they were a challenge.
For , for example. The para athlete, who competes in the sport of boccia, couldn鈥檛 wear jeans because in a wheelchair, they dug into her skin. They lacked an elastic waistband, and were difficult to take on and off.
鈥淭here was no way I was getting those on,鈥� says Levine, who had to go find something else herself that would work, and not look too different. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to look different because of your disability,鈥� Levine says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want it to be, 鈥楾eam Canada plus you guys.鈥欌��
Things are different this year. At the Paralympics in Paris, Levine and teammates wore bright red jackets with features like magnetic closures that make it easier for everyone, disabled or not. And there was an option of a seated carpenter pant that was designed with Levine in mind 鈥� even called the 鈥淎lison pant.鈥�
Levine sees the design process, in which apparel company Lululemon started interviewing her and others for guidance three years ago, as a meaningful advance not only in Olympics attire but in the broader area of what鈥檚 known as adaptive or inclusive fashion, in which fashion labels are starting 鈥� albeit slowly 鈥� to respond to the needs of disabled people, and recognize that they鈥檙e an important economic force.
鈥淟isten, people want to look good,鈥� says Levine, 34, who has a degenerative neuromuscular disorder. "It doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e disabled or not. A lot of the time when you鈥檙e disabled, you have to sacrifice your looks for what works for you, or for comfort. But the disability movement is getting bolder and stronger and saying that we鈥檙e not going to accept these things anymore.鈥�
Levine recognizes that she and her Canadian teammates are among the luckier ones, and that most athletes don鈥檛 have the luxury of a major apparel company designing their kits and reaching out for guidance. Lululemon, which has a four-Games deal with Team Canada, designed all outfits for Olympians and Paralympians outside the field of play: for opening and closing ceremonies, village wear, medal ceremonies, media appearances and travel.
Audrey Reilly, creative director for Team Canada at Lululemon, says she was shocked to find out that Levine mostly wore medical scrubs, for ease and comfort, when training or competing. That led to new designs for both sitting and standing athletes. 鈥淎ll the athletes want to look the same,鈥� says Reilly. 鈥淭hey want to feel the same.鈥�
The garment she called the 鈥淎lison pant鈥� has pockets at the shins, so an athlete in a wheelchair can easily access them. Levine says it was 鈥渋nsane鈥� to hear that a garment was named after her, but mostly she was happy that she could wear what others were wearing: 鈥淵ou feel like you鈥檙e really part of the team."
Alison Brown, a who has been covering Olympics for years, says this Olympic cycle is the first where she has seen signs of adaptive fashion taking hold. She was struck by both the Lululemon kit reveal in the spring and the Nike reveal for Team USA, in which there were models in wheelchairs or with prosthetics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so simple, yet so impactful,鈥� says Brown 鈥� who also points out that most teams don鈥檛 have the resources or the institutional setup, like Team USA and Team Canada, where Olympians and Paralympians are part of the same structure.
To Mindy Scheier, who鈥檚 been advocating for better clothing options for the disabled for more than a decade, it鈥檚 no surprise that 2024 is the year the issue became visible at the Olympics 鈥� not to mention in Paris, a world capital of fashion.
鈥淭he paradigm has shifted, and brands are really starting to see this as a business opportunity," Scheier says. 鈥淭he momentum has absolutely trickled down to the Olympics and Paralympics, because there has been such a breakthrough in the industry.鈥�
Scheier began her advocacy work a decade ago when her 8-year-old son, born with muscular dystrophy, wanted to wear jeans to school rather than sweatpants. She couldn鈥檛 find any options. A fashion designer herself, Scheier formed and and works with design labels and retailers to embrace adaptive fashion.
Ten years ago she had no partners; she now has many, from a high-end label like Tommy Hilfiger, which has its own adaptive line, Tommy Adaptive, to Target, Victoria鈥檚 Secret and others. Scheier鈥檚 foundation, Runway of Dreams, will be mounting a show this month at New York Fashion Week featuring some 60 models with varying disabilities.
鈥淭his is a vocal population, and it wants to be considered a consumer,鈥� says Scheier.
counts herself a fashion fan. A long-dominant para swimmer for Team USA, Long, 32, is now competing in her sixth Paralympics 鈥� she began winning gold medals at age 12. As a double amputee, one of the hardest things for her growing up, she says, was finding shoes that would work for her prosthetics.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not many things in my life that make me feel very disabled, but shoe shopping, and clothes shopping in general, has always been the hardest,鈥� she says.
It got easier as she grew older and more confident. But she says finding shoes is still the biggest challenge: 鈥淲hat people might not think about is that shoes can completely throw off my walking ... if they鈥檙e too heavy.鈥�
She's grateful that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and sponsor Ralph Lauren, which designed opening and closing ceremony wear, surveyed the para athletes a year ago, asking what works best.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen so much improvement in the mobility for us," Long said in an interview ahead of the Paralympics. "It鈥檚 those little pieces that mean the most, I think, to the para athletes. I think it鈥檚 going to be really exciting when we all dress up.鈥�
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AP Paralympics:
Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
