ISU students design custom adaptive fashions for children with brain-based disabilities

AMES, Iowa – Designing a dress fit – and functional – for a princess.

As soon as Adeline Heilman, an Iowa State apparel merchandising and design student from Correctionville, learned about the needs and tulle-wrapped dreams of Cielo, a 10-year-old girl who uses a motorized wheelchair for mobility and an abdominal tube for nutrition, she said she felt inspired – and determined – to create something special.

“When Cielo’s mom told me how much Cielo loves rainbows and colorful designs, and her wish for a princess outfit, I was ready to get to work and create something she’d love wearing while also working in functional elements that would help support her needs,” Heilman said.

This past summer, Heilman was a student in a digital technologies in textile and apparel course taught by Rachel Eike, associate professor of apparel, events and hospitality management, and along with her classmates, she had the opportunity to create adaptive garments for kids with brain-based disabilities through a partnership with the International Institute for the Brain (iBRAIN). 

Their goal? To see their young clients smile while wearing custom garments created for them during iBRAIN’s fourth annual “iCan Do Anything" fashion show, which took place last month as part of New York Fashion Week, Fall 2025, in New York City (watch a recording of the streamed event).

“This was our first time partnering with iBRAIN, and our design students really embraced the opportunity,” Eike said. “Fashionable adaptive clothing is important because it allows children with different capabilities to express their personal style while also incorporating the functionality needed to help improve their daily lives, as well as the lives of their caretakers.”

According to the World Health Organization, more than one billion people experience some form of disability. However, the adaptive apparel market remains underserved, especially for kids with complex medical needs. The use of feeding tubes, wheelchairs and advanced skeletal stabilization devices are often overlooked in mainstream design and retail, Eike said.

Function meets fashion

Through correspondence with Cielo’s mom, Heilman said she learned about her struggles to find fashionable adaptive clothing that would allow access to an abdominal feeding tube and avoid adding pressure when her daughter is seated in a wheelchair. Bunched fabric, extra folds and certain textures, Heilman said, can cause discomfort and even lead to pressure sores.

Heilman used a combination of design models to develop her ideas, which allowed her to balance specific challenges with goals for function and aesthetics. Once she finalized her design plans, Heilman was ready to make a trip to the Overflow Thrift Store in Ames.

Given the time constraints of Eike’s six-week summer course, as well as her students’ goal of creating adaptive designs that parents and caregivers could realistically replicate using garments more readily available in stores, Overflow agreed to provide students with common base garments they could modify with adaptive design. 

Heilman was able to source a denim dress in Cielo’s size from the store and then began her planned modifications. She opened the dress’ side seams to about eight inches down from the upper seam and then sewed magnetic strips into both sides of the openings, keeping a 3-centimeter gap between each magnet.

“My goal was to provide a secure closure with easy access and a hidden adaptation,” she said.

Heilman then designed and created a detachable skirt using a soft pink lining fabric layered with tulle tiers and used buttons to connect this separate piece to the dress. This provided an option to remove the skirt and convert the outfit into an everyday dress as well.

“I decided to keep the tulle skirt tiers to the front of the dress, which gives the look of a fully tiered dress when Cielo is sitting in her wheelchair but helps eliminate discomfort and possible pressure sores if she was sitting on a lot of fabric,” Heilman said.

She then added Cinderella-inspired sleeves to the dress and pink and white flowers onto the bodice before designing a matching wheelchair armrest bag with adjustable straps, two large pockets and a magnetic buckle for ease of use. Heilman also used an embroidery machine to create themed patches that could be attached to the bag using snaps, giving Cielo the ability to mix and match according to her mood or outfit.

“This project was very meaningful and a great learning experience about how adaptative design can go beyond function and feature aesthetic value with personality,” Heilman said.

Confidently styled

Manu Smriti, a hybrid Ph.D. student in apparel, merchandising and design, said she quickly discovered that adaptive clothing options frequently fall short – functionally, fashionably and financially – while conducting research as part of her iBRAIN project in Eike’s class.

“These kids require garments that can accommodate medical equipment, support non-traditional body postures and allow for quick access to facilitate care routines,” Smriti said. “Off-the-rack adaptive options are often lacking and leave caregivers feeling frustrated and searching for creative clothing options.”

She also remembered smiling when first reading about the wants of her adaptive design client, a growing 14-year-old boy nicknamed Rockstar who loves music, Nintendo and the color yellow.

“His mom told me he’s a fun, happy boy who enjoys being with other people and who would love to be able to express himself more through his clothing choices,” Smriti said.

Rockstar, who is non-verbal and communicates through gestures and a tablet device, uses a wheelchair for mobility and Exo technology to assist with walking at times. He also requires assistance getting dressed due to his limited muscle strength.

Smriti focused on creating a three-piece mini collection of adaptive wear for Rockstar. The collection included a yellow graphic t-shirt featuring interchangeable, Velcro patches; a flannel shirt with mesh back panel and ventilation flap; and adaptive jeans with laser-cut graphics, magnetic closures and side loops to assist with dressing.

“My goal for each design was to integrate modularity, ease of use, identity expression and sensory awareness, and use a fashion approach where function, fun and flexibility are never mutually exclusive,” Smriti said.

Adaptive design supported by technology

Design students also toured ISU’s Student Innovation Center at the beginning of Eike’s course to learn more about resources available to them there. The Electronics, Textiles and 3D Printing Makerspace is home to 3D printers, digital embroidery machines, industrial sewing machines, soldering tools and laser cutting to help students, faculty and staff create, fabricate and prototype.

When Michelle Beaudet, a second-year master’s student in apparel merchandising and design, decided to modify adult-sized clothing for her iBRAIN client, she was excited to utilize the 3D printers at the Student Innovation Center.

“My goal was to modify adult clothing so that it could be made smaller at first and then larger again over time as a child grows,” Beaudet said.

Beaudet made the clothing smaller by incorporating braided-cord cinching that pulls in the torso area of a shirt, as well as the outside edge of pant legs, using ruching. Then, to help control the length of the braided cording, she created a cord winder using 3D printing technology. 

“The cord winder allows the user to be able to increase or decrease the length of the cord by simply twisting the inner part of the 3D print,” said Beaudet, who also has a passion for sustainable design. “For the 3D printed materials, I used polylactic acid, which is biodegradable because it’s typically derived from corn or sugarcane and is sustainable due to its recyclability as a plant-based material.”

Beaudet’s said her designs for her client, a vivacious 10-year-old girl nicknamed “Little Miss Rachel” who walks with some difficulty and uses an activity chair at home, were created with a goal of avoiding excess bulk around the hips and legs while keeping lengths manageable for possible seated or supported mobility. She also prioritized using fabric that would allow for freedom of movement, as well as bright colors and fun patterns.

“It was a bit surreal to see my garments on the runway during New York Fashion Week,” Beaudet said. “I’ve never had something I designed presented live on a major runway before, so the anticipation leading up to the show was exciting. I’m proud to be part of this important project and help bring more attention to adaptive designs for kids.”

Open educational resources

As a next step, Eike is working with the Parks Library at Iowa State to offer the students’ adaptive designs as a collection on the library’s open education resources (OER) website, which provides access to openly licensed teaching, learning and research materials that can be freely used, adapted and shared.

“We know there are many caregivers out there who are looking for adaptive design ideas, and we want to share our designs and what we learned with them,” said Eike, who also joined her students in designing an adaptive garment for an iBRAIN client. “Open educational resources help make learning more affordable, accessible and adaptable for everyone.”

To check out the Parks Library’s OER site, visit oer.iastate.edu.

Contact

Rachel J. Eike, Apparel, Events and Hospitality Management, rjeike@iastate.edu, 515-294-7826

Lisa Schmitz, News Service, lisaschm@iastate.edu, 515-294-0704