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Stephanie Thomas (born in Chicago, Illinois) is an American disability fashion stylist, public speaker, voice actor, and professor. [1]
According to People magazine, while she was working at a radio station, WVKL-FM (95.7), [2] in Norfolk, Virginia, Thomas wore pajamas for a year as part of the "PJ Deejay" campaign and discussed the limited clothing options for people with physical disabilities on-air every day. [3] Thomas noted that she felt isolated by the stress of going out in public dressed in pajamas. [2]
Thomas has worked in disability fashion styling for 30 years, [4] developing and trademarking the Disability Fashion Styling System, which has been featured by Vogue , [5] The Guardian , [6] Refinery29 , [7] Highsnobiety , [8] Paper [9] and The New Yorker . [10]
Thomas is a congenital amputee who has no right thumb and is missing three toes. [7] In a TEDx talk, she said she was not expected to be able to walk. [11] Thomas graduated from high school in 1987 and studied for a Master of Arts in fashion journalism at Academy of Art University. [12]
In an interview with The Guardian , Thomas said she noticed in 2006 that "we have more clothing in stores for dogs than we do for people with disabilities". [1] [13] Between 1992 and 2003, Thomas researched disability fashion and trademarked her Disability Fashion Styling System, which she established in 2004. [14] [15]
Thomas has worked as a voice actor and jingle singer since 1997. [16] She has recorded voiceovers for Disney, Hilton, Macy's, Toyota, Martini and Rossi, McDonald's, and Netflix. [17]
Thomas is also an adjunct professor at Woodbury University in Burbank, California, where she teaches fashion marketing. [18]
In 2010, Thomas launched a blog about disability fashion that has become a business. [19] [20] Thomas also hosts a podcast on disability issues. [21]
To mark the 75th anniversary of Disability Employment Awareness Month and Dwarfism Awareness Month in October 2020, Thomas produced and hosted a two-day online event called "The Power of Personal Style". Speakers included Jameela Jamil. [22] [23]
Thomas regularly works with 2019 Independent Spirit Awards–nominated [24] actor and disability influencer [25] Lauren "Lolo" Spencer, who has ALS. [26] Spencer has modeled for Tommy Hilfiger adaptive, [27] and was styled by Thomas for the Give Me Liberty film premiere at the Sundance and the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. [10]
In 2016, Thomas spoke on "Dressing with Disabilities" at Canada's third-largest TEDx event. [28] In 2018, Thomas was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient by Academy of Art University. In 2019, the Business of Fashion website included Thomas on its "BoF 500" list of "People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry". [29]
In 2020, Thomas received an Ed Roberts Award for her work as a disability fashion styling expert, and as founder and CEO of Cur8able, a business dedicated to fashion for people with disabilities. [30]
Pajamas are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging. Pajamas are soft garments derived from the South-Asian Muslim and Iranian bottom-wear, the pyjamas, which were adopted in the Western world as nightwear.
Crippled: Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled People is a 2019 book by Frances Ryan about disability in the United Kingdom under the 2010s austerity programme. It explores the effects of welfare cuts, local council cuts, social care cuts, increased taxes for disabled people and means testing for remaining welfare provisions. Between research about the prevalence of each issue, Ryan interviews disabled people affected by the issue. She finds people who have died from having financial support withdrawn, people who cannot afford food, heating or prescriptions, and people unable to wash or get dressed due to removal of social care. Ryan researches into disabled people who live in inaccessible housing, who cannot afford visits to the hospital, who cannot leave violent partners for financial reasons and who rely on young children to look after them.
Elizabeth Anne Carr is an English actress, comedian, broadcaster and international disability rights activist. She is known for portraying the role of Clarissa Mullery in the BBC crime drama Silent Witness (2013–2020), and also for being a campaigner for disabled rights, and fronting the BBC documentary Better Off Dead? (2024).
Dana Thomas is a fashion and culture journalist and author based in Paris. Her books include Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano and Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes. She also wrote the script for Salvatore Ferragamo: The Shoemaker of Dreams, a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. It had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 5, 2020. She hosts The Green Dream podcast on all things sustainable.
Disability in the arts is an aspect within various arts disciplines of inclusive practices involving disability. It manifests itself in the output and mission of some stage and modern dance performing-arts companies, and as the subject matter of individual works of art, such as the work of specific painters and those who draw.
The physically integrated dance movement is part of the disability culture movement, which recognizes and celebrates the first-person experience of disability, not as a medical model construct but as a social phenomenon, through artistic, literary, and other creative means.
Ryann Maegen Hoven, known professionally as Tess Holliday and formerly known as Tess Munster, is an American plus-size model, blogger, and make-up artist based in Los Angeles.
Jessica Thom is a British theatre-maker and comedian who established Touretteshero, an alter-ego and project aimed at increasing awareness of Tourette syndrome, the neurological condition which she was diagnosed with in her early twenties. The first Touretteshero production, Backstage in Biscuit Land debuted at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014. The show won critical acclaim and has since toured across the UK and internationally, including various performances across North America and Australia. Thom has also made numerous appearances on British television, notably an interview on Russell Howard's Good News which has garnered more than 995,000 YouTube views as of August 2019, and was reported on by The Independent and Metro newspapers.
Leomie Jasmin Francis Anderson is a British fashion model, television presenter, and activist. She has walked in four consecutive Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows from 2015 to 2018, and became a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2019. Anderson was included in a 2020 Forbes '30 Under 30' list for the art & culture category.
Sinéad Burke is an Irish writer, academic and disability activist, popular for her TED talk 'Why design should include everyone'. She is the director of the consulting organisation Tilting the Lens, working to raise the baseline standards in accessibility, to design an equitable and accessible world. Since 2019, she has been a member of the Irish Council of State.
Tiffany Yu is an American entrepreneur and disability rights advocate who founded Diversability, which is a social enterprise to advocate for equality for people with disabilities.
Iddris Sandu is an American entrepreneur, programmer, engineer, and digital architect. He is the CEO of Spatial Labs Inc., a hardware software infrastructure company.
Emma Frances Chamberlain is an American social media personality, YouTuber, podcaster, businesswoman and model. She won the 2018 Streamy Award for Breakout Creator. In 2019, Time magazine included her on its Time 100 Next list, and its list of The 25 Most Influential People On The Internet, writing that "Chamberlain pioneered an approach to vlogging that shook up YouTube's unofficial style guide."
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. The organization designs and produces adaptive clothing and products, with and for people with disabilities. 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 and at Parsons School of Design at The New School.
Lorraine Susan Gradwell MBE was a British disability rights campaigner and sports person, feminist writer and poet.
Helen Anne Henderson was a Canadian disability rights activist and journalist.
Varija Bajaj is an Indian fashion designer from Delhi known for her women's workwear. Her "Pagdi" collection at India Runway Week in 2016, saw the models wearing the traditional Indian male headgear 'pagdi'. Her "Vrindavan" collection premiered at India Runway Week in 2017. It was designed to counter the stigmas attached to widows.
MISBHV is a Polish streetwear label established by Natalia Maczek in 2014. It is based in Kraków and has around 90 retailers worldwide.
Mary Lou Spiess was an American disability advocate, teacher, and designer of disabled fashion.
Harry Lambert is a British editorial and celebrity fashion stylist. He is best known for his work styling musician Harry Styles, actors Emma Corrin, Josh O'Connor and Eddie Redmayne and football player Dominic Calvert-Lewin.