Open Style Lab

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Open Style Lab (OSL) is a nonprofit organization that was launched in 2014, initially as a public service project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The nonprofit's executive director and board president is Grace Jun. [1] The organization designs and produces adaptive clothing and products, with and for people with disabilities. [2] The group invites designers, engineers, and occupational therapists from across the globe to work together to solve a real-life problem with an adaptive clothing solution. The program was replicated at MIT International Design Center [3] and at Parsons School of Design at The New School. [4]

Every Summer, the group puts together cross-functional teams including designers, engineers, and occupational therapists, that are paired with a 'client' who has a disability. The teams then have 10 weeks of research, design, and development to put together a solution for their client. [5] The group has worked with those people with spinal cord injuries and cognitive disability for their designs, [6] such as adaptive sewing toolkits.

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References

  1. Macias, Melba (2021-02-03). "Open Style Lab Puts Great Design Within Reach". Enabling Devices. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  2. "Nonprofit merges hi-tech and high fashion to make clothes for people with disabilities". NBC News. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  3. Miller, Meg (2016-08-15). "The MIT Lab That's Quietly Pioneering Fashion For Everyone". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
  4. Ilyashov, Alexandra. "Why Some Of The Country's Best & Brightest Spent The Summer Designing Clothes". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  5. "Fashion for the Disabled, Open Style Lab's Showcase at Parsons". Vogue. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  6. Safronova, Valeriya (2017-05-09). "Designing for All Abilities". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-05-19.