Meet Victoria Jenkins, founder of Unhidden, the brand ramping up fashion for people with disabilities
SHOP THE COLLECTION AT UNHIDDENCLOTHING.COM. FOLLOW VICTORIA AND HER JOURNEY ON INSTAGRAM @VICTORIAANNOFFICIAL
WOMAN WITH A CAUSE
Most of us take for granted everyday experiences like popping out to our local high street to buy a new outfit. However, it’s not as easy as that for those who live with a disability. Sadly, this 24% of the UK population is still hugely underrepresented in the fashion industry, with many brands not yet offering adaptive clothing or featuring disabled models in their campaigns.
Fashion designer Victoria Jenkins recognised this big gap in the market and launched her brand Unhidden in 2017. It’s been her mission to tackle ableism and to offer disabled people the chance to feel included by offering stylish garments that have been adapted to individual medical needs.
Not only is Victoria a garment technologist with 14 years’ experience in the fashion industry, but she became disabled in her twenties after she was diagnosed with multiple gastrointestinal conditions and chronic pain. This lived experience and her industry insight have proved to be key in helping the 38-year-old become CEO of her own successful brand. She is now also an ambassador for Models Of Diversity and Purple Tuesday, a global movement for improving the customer experience of disabled people and their families.
Victoria hopes her fashion brand will help break down barriers and give the disabled community equal privileges when it comes to style. “Even though attitudes are changing, the industry still has a very long way to go,” she says.
Tell us about the patient who triggered the idea for launching your own fashion brand…
It was on one of my many hospital trips when I met this lady who was being treated for cancer. I noticed she had two stomas and a line in her arm, and she was there to have another one fitted in her chest. She was having to expose herself, with a huge team of doctors around her, so it wasn’t very dignified. She also couldn’t dress how she wanted to at work, at home or at social events, being restricted to jogging bottoms and T-shirts. I still hope one day that she sees one of these articles and reaches out, but she was pretty unwell. I can relate to her dressing problems as I’ve had a lot of abdominal surgery. Hospital gowns open at the back so you’re either pulling them down or lifting them up, which is not cool. I really want to design ho
