WHAT IT IS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE ABLE LABEL?

Founder Katie explains how truly inspirational her grandmother (pictured below) was and how she was the trigger to launching The Able Label adaptive clothing, on the anniversary of her passing.

Previously a fashion buyer for White Stuff, huge pride was taken in creating beautiful, quality clothes that made people happy wearing them. Never did I consider the large numbers of women who found dressing into many high street clothes difficult, or just impossible.

It is not until you yourself have experienced or seen first hand, the difficulties so many women face daily when dressing – I certainly didn’t. Not until, my grandmother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and quickly began to loose strength and dexterity, had reduced mobility and also faced cognitive difficulties.

She explained,

I hate your grandfather having to help me to dress. I feel like I’m losing my independence and dignity

 

Not wanting to ‘give up’, she was also certainly unwilling to sacrifice her style either. She took huge pride in what she wore, with shopping being a favourite hobby of hers. Clothing really was a big part of her identity and she did not want to lose this.

It quickly became apparent that she was not alone with this desire. We spoke to lots of groups including arthritis, dementia, stoke and MS groups as well as individuals without a specific disability but just found dressing difficult, to work out exactly what was needed and wanted from the clothes to help make dressing easier. The Able Label was created to bridge the gap between fashion and function.

The Able Label clothes have two key rules:

• no overhead dressing
• no fiddly fastenings

We also use quality, easy care fabrics with high stretch to make dressing easier and have colour coordinated internals to help dress items the right way if you have cognitive difficulties. This is all whilst maintaining style and comfort.

I remember trying clothes on my grandmother to gain feedback and after getting her approval, she replied, 

No dear, if you can help one other person in the same situation as me, you do what you have to do

This still resonates with me today and is a key driver behind why we do what we do.

Had it not been for my grandmother, we may never have started the business. She has made us so passionate about helping others to maintain their style and identity as well as independence and dignity.

Like we achieved at White Stuff, The Able Label is making people happy wearing our clothes but, for a whole different reason.

To find out more on The Able Label, see our 'About Us' page by clicking here.

If you would like to contact us directly you can:

Phone: 01622 744242  //  Email: cservices@theablelabel.com