Accessible Footwear Fellowship

The Accessible Footwear Fellowship by Open Style Lab (OSL) redefines what inclusive design can achieve when people with disabilities are at the centre of creation. Rooted in over a decade of accessibility research and three years focused on footwear, the program unites disabled and non-disabled designers, engineers, and occupational therapists to co-create adaptive footwear that merges functionality, comfort, and style.

The 2025 program ran simultaneously in New York City and London, fostering a unique cross-pollination of ideas and global collaboration between the two cohorts. This transatlantic exchange enabled participants to share cultural, technical, and design perspectives, strengthening the fellowship’s impact and expanding its reach across disciplines and geographies.

With over 25% of adults living with a disability and a rapidly aging population, the fellowship responds to an urgent need for accessible, beautiful, and affordable design. Through intensive workshops, participants explored real-world challenges - from dexterity and balance to fit and self-expression - transforming lived experience into design innovation.

Examples of outcomes included stick-on loops that add stability to open shoes, an adjustable shoe stretcher operable independently by people with limited dexterity, expandable shoe designs for those with swelling, protective covers to reduce scuffing caused by foot drag, and modular insoles offering customizable comfort and support.

The project culminated in the creation of an Accessible Footwear Kit, featuring ten adaptive footwear solutions, a practical how-to manual, and a public exhibition at the Zaha Hadid Foundation in London attended by leaders from design, healthcare, and industry.

More than a design project, the fellowship is a movement for change - empowering the next generation of disabled and non-disabled designers to make inclusion a standard, not a specialty. It proves that when fashion is co-created with the disability community, it becomes not only accessible but truly universal.