About Me
Hi I'm Anna, a graduate from Northumbria University
Anna McMullan is a Womenswear pattern cutter from northumbria university with a passion for inclusive and adaptive design for all. The idea of adaptive clothing is inspired by her brother who is a wheelchair with locked-in syndrome. The main focus of her garment's is to create comfortable but stylish clothing for wheelchair users.
From having second hand experience through my brother, we discovered after his illness that certain garments were uncomfortable and couldn't be worn due to sitting in a wheelchair all day. My collection's explore a 'Wardrobe for a wheelchair user' by having garments design for a seated wearer for many of occasions, with feedback from my brother and his carer's aiding my research. This is a very important issue in the fashion industry that needs to be addressed to allow everyone to wear what they want to feel beautiful and express themselves.
INSPIRATION
My Concept is inspired by my brother and grandfather who both had disabilities.
My inspiration was driven by the limited clothing my brother could wear due to his disabilities and how my grandfather didn't let his disability stop him from wearing a two-piece suit. Disabled and inclusive fashion is a broad area with many disabilities to look at. I decided to analyse how garments needed to be adapted to fit wheelchair users due to my experience with my brother and my grandfather. I wanted to create a collection that shows inclusive fashion is possible and needs to be done.
Exploring tailoring silhouettes and garments my main collection shows a line up adapted and inclusive for wheelchair users to wear and be comfortable in. Functionality was analysed and tested through samples that would conceal peg tubes and catheter bags for dignity which my brother tested. In the construction of garments I look at how through pattern cutting garments differently, can they be made more comfortable. Inclusive fashion isn't a question of when, it needs to be done now.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
"Learning my ABC's and XYZ's" Written concept
Why I explored this Concept
"Learning my ABC's and XYZ's" Concept board
Colour was Inspired by Declan's visual impairment
Adaptive Blazer research and development
"Learning my ABC's and XYZ's" Range plan
"Learning my ABC's and XYZ's" line up looks 1-3
"Learning my ABC's and XYZ's" line up looks 4-6
"The leading Lady" Follow on collection concept
Market level and silhouette board
Modular skirt development
"The leading Lady" Range plan
"The leading Lady" line up looks 1-3
"The leading Lady" line up looks 4-6
"They Ski me Rollin' " Concept board
silhouette development
"They Ski me Rollin' " Line up looks 1-3
"They Ski me Rollin' " Line up looks 4-6
"They Ski me Rollin' " Range plan
DETAIL
I explored ways to make Peg-tubes concealed for dignity
My brother has a peg tube to help him eat, drink, and take medication. He is not the only person to experience the discomfort of having your t-shirt lifted, especially in public for others to administer to him what he needs. I wanted to test and create a method of how peg tubs could be concealed when not needed but still easily accessed when having to give the user a drink or their medication. I tested a method on the eyelet function on the sewing machine to create fabric eyelets that were comfortable on the skin and would also fit around the peg tube. Experimenting with different fabrics and fusing allowed me to check which ones would work on the machines. I also decided to create one with a pocket to conceal the peg tube. When testing this it allowed me to see if the peg tube would fit, how my brother felt about the fabric against his skin and how it made him feel. Analysing my samples let me see that bigger and deconstructed upside-down pockets would accommodate the peg tube more.
Forgetting to address a certain disability deters people from adaptive fashion, but how would they feel if the industry forgot about them.
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
