My name is Lauren Kahn and I’m currently at Parsons for fashion design. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I grew up creating art and loving fashion, always being inspired by the world around me. It wasn’t until late in high school that I decided I wanted to go to a design school. I came to Parsons with an open mind, exposed myself to various mediums and dove deep into research. It wasn’t until I was chatting with my aunt one day about making her a dress and clothing in general. She has MS and uses a disability scooter. She’s one of the most fashionable people I know. She’s always told me to invest in nice jewelry because it’ll never go out of style, she’s right. I’ve talked to her and her twin sister numerous times about their relationship with clothing and I always thought about how can I make a maxi dress for them that doesn’t get caught in the wheels of their scooters. It really inspired me to dive deeper into adaptive fashion and now here we are a year later. I’ve researched, talked to, interviewed many, and also worked a runway for adaptive fashion. I’ve only scratched the surface so far.

 

Diva36 is a design project and learning experience that is meant to help educate mainstream fashion and the public about adaptive clothing. The goal is to share information, adaptive clothing, and my designs to the world. I feel that it’s not fair that mainstream fashion hasn’t picked up on adaptive fashion. I believe there needs to be fashionable clothing and wearable art for everyone.