FTL Moda, a promotion and marketing organization known for their work with disabled and nontraditional models, renewed a partnership with Global Disability Inclusion for the Fall/Winter 2016 season.  Lulu et Gigi and Josefa Da Silva notably promoted this partnership, sending Madeline Stuart, a model with Down Syndrome, as well as two female amputees down the runway.  

“For the models, it doesn’t matter if they’re a little bit more on the heavier side or have some disabilities,” commented designer Da Silva, “They should be able to express themselves freely just like anyone else without being judged.”  

Her collection embodied this positive message, each piece in the collection intended to act as a crystal healing.

Highlights of the show were found amidst the two menswear collections, Dunyah and Mr. De Curtis.  De Curtis models sported messier, black versions of the blue eyeshadow masks seen at Chanel last season and models wore feet wraps rather than shoes.  His well tailored jackets, however, stole attention from these oddities.  Black lining provided a stark contrast from within a light grey coat, and red piping drew attention to black jacket.  Dunyah repurposed suspenders as an unusual accent against pants, depriving them of their function yet repurposing them in a provocative form.  The line evolved from a classically beautiful navy silk overcoat and cream jacket with orange and fur accents, to asymmetrically dyed shirts, army fatigues, luxurious bombers, and even dipped into athletic wear.  

FTL Moda’s partnership with Global Disability Inclusion was unarguably an innovative and overdue concept.  Yet the concept stalled within unusual collections with limited audiences, relegated to children’s couture lines and collections of that ilk.  Should this shift be translated to the mainstream and picked up by designers with significant backing, however, it might find itself facing an audience more than ready for a change of this kind.  

Email Grace Dixon at [email protected].