A woman whose son suffered a life-changing spinal injury has launched an adaptive clothing range in calls to expand the fashion industry.
Social worker Caron Mcluckie watched her son, Emile, struggle to find his clothing comfortable after he had a spinal cord stroke, leaving him paralysed from the waist down when he was just 13-years-old.
This life changing moment meant Emile, now 21 - who like his peers prefers to dress in joggers, t-shirts and trainers - struggled with the confining clothing when using a catheter.
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So Caron, from Heaton Chapel, designed a disability-friendly clothing range for her son - Bealies Adaptive Wear.
“It completely changed every aspect of our lives," Caron told the Manchester Evening News. "It happened so suddenly and Emile's resilience has been unbelievable, but his clothes are constricting to able-bodied peers.
“Emile can’t walk and so must be sitting at all times, but pants are a rigid material that don’t move with you, so when my son sits his lower back is exposed. There’s also no accessibility with his catheter, it makes helping him uncomfortable and difficult,”
Caron approached The Fashion Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University and started working with sisters Rebecca and Melissa Everett on her idea for accessible opening joggers.
The siblings made a prototype and added a polo top with magnetic openings to create a smart casual tracksuit that would be comfortable, practical and suitable to wear.
From this Caron launched Bealies Adaptive Wear which won the the Start Up Awards Fashion and Beauty of the Year in 2023.
"I never dreamed of running my own business until looking for ways to help Emile. My mum was a machinist and she said ‘they’re not that hard to make'. She deconstructed a pair and it’s just gone on from there," the 57-year-old said.
With over 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK Caron began researching and talking to physios, carers and wheelchair users to design the adaptive clothes wear.
One of her main designs includes joggers and shorts made with cotton jersey and a diagonal zip to allow space to catheterise, with a high rise back to allow full coverage whilst sitting and transferring.
And Caron is developing her design to fit for various figures and sizes, and continues as a working progress from patterns, sourcing materials and manufacturing.
Caron said: "I'm so proud of the growth in Bealies through the discreet and functional designs. It means Emile - who's a young man now- is able to wear nice clothing, be comfortable and be dignified throughout his day."
The brand is now looking for investors to help Bealies scale up the production and marketing as they move into designing hoodies, tracksuits, jeans, underwear, and a wardrobe to provide options throughout the seasons.
You can donate money towards Caron’s crowd funder here and further details are here.
