It is undeniable that, at times, you feel there is no space for people with illnesses and disabilities in the wellness, beauty and fashion industries. You may argue that some things have slightly changed with the arrival on the scene of adaptive clothing capsule collections and of disabled models on the runways.
But we should try and do our best to build more inclusive spaces for the benefit of all and stop being selfish. It takes indeed a diagnosis to swiftly pass from the healthy into the ill category and become unable to carry out basic tasks or simply end up being excluded from enjoying certain products as they are simply not created or marketed with people with disabilities or with specific illnesses in mind. Thing is, it is usually taboo talking about an illness as if, by mentioning it, you will instantly get it. Yet, covering all angles, may open up markets to more consumers including chronically ill individuals, while creating alternative narratives may raise awareness about specific conditions, taking away the stigma and prejudices surrounding certain disorders and disabilities.
In some ways there are steps being taken and technology is helping: for what regards wellness, in 2021, Bump'n announced its Joystick ($249, available for pre-order on its site), a sort of support that allows to use one's favorite toys without using one's hands. The device was designed by sexual health experts, industrial designers, occupational therapists and the disabled community for those living with disabilities or pain, immobility, lack of dexterity, muscle weakness and hand limitations.
A few brands in the beauty industry have been working along these lines. Makeup artist and beauty educator Terri Bryant realised that she was experiencing a loss of dexterity in her hand which led to challenges applying makeup.
After she was diagnosed with Parkinson's, she developed Guide Beauty, a brand producing a makeup range and ergonomic tools for people with limited fine motor skills.
Actress Selma Blair, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018, is the brand's Chief Creative Officer. Together, Bryant and Blair launched a brush collection with the brand's patented Guide Ring for better control.
But, while this is a relatively small business and in this case the brand is not using any specific technological devices, there are major cosmetic companies researching the possibility of making their markets more inclusive through innovative products.
Over the past few years, L'Oréal researchers have been working to make the company's packaging easier to open for people with disabilities and use more QR codes on its products to help people with limited visibility.
The company recently unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a handheld, computerized device that helps people with limited hand and arm mobility applying lipstick.
Called Hapta (from the word haptic) the device looks like a miniature robotic arm and employs the vibrating motor technology used in many smartphones and in adaptive devices for people with disabilities, to stabilize a tube and apply lipstick. And while this may sound superficial and unnecessary to some of us, make up and lipstick can improve one's self-esteem and, in this case, the robotic device would give users indepence and confidence.
Hand mobility can be affected by a variety of conditions, including neurological disorders like tremor, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy and strokes as well. Keeping these conditions in mind, L'Oréal started working on a dedicated device in 2021. To do so the company collaborated with Verily, a California health-tech company that originally created a spoon, Liftware, for people who have mobility and motor skills challenges, to allow them to eat more independently. Hapta essentially incorporates the same technology used for Verily's eating utensils.
L'Oréal's Hapta lipstick applicator is set to be available in US stores later this year and globally next year at a cost of $199 (Hapta is compatible with Lancôme lipsticks for now, but this is an aspect that may have to be developed further as L'Oréal plans to create fittings that would make the device adaptable with other lipsticks), but there are plans for further L'Oréal inclusive products that may lead to more innovative solutions.
There is indeed more to explore if only we took the time to sit down and speak to people with specific needs and disorders (only people who wear everyday extremely tight-fitting stockings for vein insufficiency and have limited strength in their hands or have other conditions that impair their movements know that this perfectly normal action can become a traumatic moment with the occasional tragicomic twist about it...). Besides, while for large brands developing such products is obviously a way to unlock untapped markets, exploring these needs would open up new possibilities also for what regards university courses.
It took a team of L'Oréal engineers, researchers, scientists and beauty experts to work on Hapta – you need indeed clever designers, but also smart technicians and engineers, to create a miniature robotic arm. While in 2023 we will definitely see more technological advances that will push inclusivity in the wellness, beauty and fashion industries, as the years pass, there will also be more technology, research and innovation incubators in fashion and design companies. So the future, as we always insisted on this site, will be in combined disciplines that will lead to the creations of tools and products to support all sorts of needs and of truly innovative designs that can genuinely change people's lives.
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