A local business is combining accessibility, inclusivity and braille.
Aille Design is founded by Alexa Jovanovic. She says the company began as a university research project when she was a fashion student. According to Jovanovic, the courses discussed the fact that diversity, inclusivity and accessibility are nonexistent in the fashion industry.
Aille Design offers t-shirts, sweatshirts, key chains and more that feature beaded braille on them. Jovanovic says the designs were created in collaboration with those who are visually impaired, through discussions about the challenges they face.
"Quite often when someone says that they're visually impaired, people in society just automatically think that they don't care what they look like," said Jovanovic. "If you can't see, why do you care? And that couldn't be further from the truth. So really being able to find ways that fashion does matter to everyone. Disability doesn't define whether or not you love fashion or need to wear clothes. So when we were working with the community, it became really important that all our pieces were fashion-forward and would appeal to absolutely any audience, because you don't want to continue to silo a community that it's already being sort of left out. So being able to provide pieces that can be worn by anyone really takes care of those challenges."
To learn more about Aille Design, click here.