The Adaptive Fashion Project "The Unthreadings" Fashion Show and Auction

Since its creation, IFA Paris has been advocating for inclusion, sustainability, and diversity and has implemented concrete actions to raise awareness among fashion industry players and students. The Unthreadings project was born from these values, during which groups of IFA Paris MA Contemporary Fashion Design students created collections adapted to various disabilities. These inclusive collections were designed in a sustainable way using recycled fabrics. The goal of this project was to make fashion and style accessible to all.

The event and presentation of "The Unthreadings" collection took place this past Friday, January 28th. An event with inclusion and diversity at its core, where 13 adaptive looks were presented through a short fashion show and on display. These looks are already online on the digital platform Drouot as part of a charity auction 2.0. A festive event hosted by Jean-Baptiste Andreani (CEO of IFA Paris) and the association Les Couleurs de Pont de Flandre, to which the funds raised during the auction will be donated. The values and commitments of IFA Paris were conveyed by the winners, but also by two sponsors, Lilia Benchabane and Isra, who spoke at the event.

Lilia Benchabane is a young 24 year-old comedian from Lille, visually impaired and albino who chooses self-deprecating humor as her weapon. With her talented humor, she wants to sensitize her audience and give another angle of disability through sketches inspired by her own experience. She shows that her disability should not generate pity but be considered as a strength. It is no surprise that IFA Paris invited her to join the event to present a one-woman show carrying the values of the collection with a note of humor. The idea is to address the subject of disability, its place in today's fashion while de-dramatizing and lifting the taboos around it. Because yes, we can laugh about everything and it is important to bring lightness, laughter and joy to such sensitive topics. This hilarious artist made us discover her universe and it was very enriching and extremely funny.

Isra is a 19 year old influencer with 820.8K followers on TikTok and a passion for fashion under the handle @my.isra. She is a young woman who refers to herself as "1.10m of joy" who shares her daily life with humor by following current, mixing beauty routines, favorites and reactions to the remarks she hears. Her videos on TikTok open minds and show her vision of disability and fashion.

IFA Paris advocates diversity and inclusiveness in its schools, so last October, IFA offered Isra a full scholarship to its Bachelor Fashion Design & Technology program. Isra previously shared that other schools could not offer her the same accessibility to their programs, due to her disability. It is therefore instinctive that IFA Paris is happy to welcome her. Her ultra-positive attitude and “joie de vivre” were present during the event, as she was also a sponsor.

The ambition of IFA Paris, through its projects, is to change the codes of fashion to give access, with or without a disability, to trendy clothes adapted to every individual. “The Unthreadings" event was therefore an opportunity to rethink disability in a more accessible, inclusive and humorous way, linking it to the world of fashion.

The auction company Drouot has launched the auction on its platform. Furthermore, a showroom has open on Monday, January 31st in the "Foundry Fashion Tech Lab", the startup incubator and technological innovation laboratory of IFA Paris. The showroom, which is open to the public free of charge upon registration, will allow the public to see the creations made by the students in real-life and to learn more about the difficulties disabled people may encounter when confronted with standardized fashion.