Designer makes clothing more accessible for people in wheelchairs.
Designer Izzy Camilleri stands in her studio in her new Junction retail store for her adaptive clothing line.
Staff Photo / NOEL GRZETIC
It all began with making clothes for her dolls.
Nowadays, fashion designer and Junction resident Izzy Camilleri sews for an entirely different clientele: those in wheelchairs.
The Canadian designer opened a new retail store May 14 in the Junction for her 'IZ' adaptive clothing line.
The line has been available online since 2009, but Camilleri said the retail building 'legitimizes' her company while allowing clients to shop in a wheelchair-friendly environment.
"There's a lot of people who would prefer to come to a store...they need to feel and touch the fabric,' said Camilleri.
She calls the project a "labour of love" that began eight years ago with an introduction to Toronto reporter Barbara Turnbull, a quadriplegic in search of a custom-made shearling cape. Over the next few years Camilleri worked with Turnbull and similar clientele one-on-one.
"It was an education of what a person needs when they're seated," said Camilleri. She was overwhelmed with the feedback she received from her early clients and initially backed off the idea of creating a line.
With extensive research and a few more year's experience, she was ready, knowing that she would have to pioneer this idea on her own.
"I saw that there was nothing available,' said Camilleri. "There's a small handful of people doing adaptive clothing...but it still looked handmade or it looked geared to the elderly."
Her major hurdle was developing brand new patterns. The line had to be fitted for a seated frame, allowing more room in the right areas for those in wheelchairs. While she had been known for her elaborate, labour-intensive pieces in her mainstream fashion line, the adaptive line forced her to "strip away everything and just get down to the basics."
Her aim is inclusivity and focuses on key pieces like coats, jeans and T-shirts.
"It hasn't been easier making this stuff but you don't really see the work involved,' said Camilleri. "It just looks like everybody else's clothes - but that's the magic."
After graduating from Sheridan College in 1984 and working as a designer for six seasons, she moved into the movie industry where she saw a 'big void' in the market for custom work. She has since clothed many a starlet, including Meryl Streep in 'The Devil Wears Prada,' but it's her work now that has impacted her the most.
"I've had people call these clothes 'liberating,'" said Camilleri. "Satisfying the customer that I satisfy now is so much more satisfying to me."
She continues her work as mainstream designer, and will use the Junction store for those clients as well. She says this project has infused new life into her work.
"I feel really blessed that I found this - or that it found me," said Camilleri. "I've been a designer for 28 years and it was starting to get really stale. I was at a point where I really wanted to move on."
The IZ adaptive store is located at 2955-B Dundas Street West and carries clothes for men and women. For more information visit www.izadaptive.com