Congratulations on another fabulous season! The close of Season 9 means we’ve seen just shy of 150 designers and challenges. Season 9 brought some firsts like the outdoor runway and live concert.
You’ve done everything from groceries to pajamas to trash on everyone from celebrities to moms to brides to stilt-walkers to drag queens. You’ve dressed plus sizes, mature women and wrestling divas. You’ve even dressed pets, and (gasp) men.
But there’s at least one group you’ve missed. Real-world women with real-world fashion challenges who have long been overlooked by the fashion industry… women in wheelchairs. There are more than 3 million wheelchair users in the US; more than half are women. I imagine this is a slightly larger number than women on stilts.
How about it Project Runway? Are you up to the real-world challenge of dressing women in wheelchairs? We have significant fashion challenges. We tend to need longer inseams and higher rise on our pants because we never (or for some, rarely) stand. Our years of pushing a wheelchair have changed our upper-body portions. These realities would challenge your designers to think creatively to address our unique needs.
We are diverse. We are active. We are fashion minded. We are ignored by the industry. You can change that. How about it?
Love it!