Be Brave Campaign Improves Fashion Beyond the Materials

Meet Be Brave, an inclusive track and field. Initially, when I started interviewing for this section, it was clear to me that the original coverage through the career lens was too myopic. Be Brave goes further than that for a more inclusive society, bringing together community threads from athletes interacting with designers for functional and stylish clothing, which resonates beyond fabrics where everyone wins.

Special Olympics and students at the New School Parsons Design School recently partnered to conceptualize, design and develop stylish and functional tennis and athletic apparel for people with intellectual disabilities. Students work with professors, athletes, and fashion photographer and Special Olympic Champion Ambassador Nigel Barker.

From a career perspective, students learn functionality from frequently communicating with athletes, but in the end, this partnership goes above and beyond.

The inclusive athletics line, Be Brave, debuted a few days ago during Fashion Week in New York City celebrating people with disabilities and giving talented Special Olympics athletes a way to stand out and look their best. (The collection has been reviewed and endorsed by the Women’s Tennis Association players.)

Liza Ambrosini, a New York Special Olympics athlete in tennis and alpine skiing who has won 19 gold, 11 silver and two bronze medals, is thrilled to be part of a class dedicated to including people with intellectual disabilities who are strong sporting competitors. I love being part of the class. I enjoy answering designers’ questions and providing input into their designs. The design is amazing!

During the pandemic, athletes and students communicate via email and Zoom, and Ambrosini says some tennis suits are uncomfortable. Whether an athlete has a disability or not, sportswear must be functional. Tennis suits should have pockets for storing tennis balls, for example. They shouldn’t be too tight. But they have to stay fashionable. Athletes want to look and be able to play like a champion!

Dana Kosber, a fashion design student at Parsons, enrolls in a class, The Collection x Systems Design Studio x Specialized Studio in collaboration with Special Olympics and Nigel Barker to challenge myself to create individual, needs-based clothing that can serve the community.

Kosber designed a sleeveless, sky blue, black and white two-tiered sports gown for Liza Ambrosini, a Special Olympics tennis athlete.

It’s great to build and design with intentional intent, says Kosber who does fitness tests on clothes for durability when designing them. Work with and get to know Liza Ambrosini and Melanie Grassi [Special Olympics New York tennis athletes] is the best part of the design process. The designs are primarily driven by what they need, their preferences, and their personal playstyle.

Communication is constant throughout the process so the end result, says Kosber, is highly personalized to perfect your preference for design ideas, sketches, and finally clothes. I feel it is a community effort.

Kosber’s artistry balances functionality by using a microfiber sports jersey and spandex blend. From the feeling of the fabric moving while running across the court to how tight/loose the dress is around the waist as it rotates to swing the racket, this allowed me to consider the ergonomic qualities that athletes require from clothing and the iterative/analytical processes required to achieve that. In addition, it greatly influences my collaborative design skills in creating garments that fully embody individual needs and preferences.

Kosber credits Barker for his guidance, insightful and insightful reviews and advice on his designs. He really encouraged me to find my design voice and discover what we could personally offer the athletes. She encouraged me to think introspectively and draw on my own experience and strong attire to create the most personalized projects I could, while reminding me of the importance of design inclusiveness.

Through virtual check-in, Barker offers tailored suggestions for creating sustainable, inclusive clothing to wear before, after and during athlete competition.

Barker said, Every time I get that call, 20, 30 people, the athletes are there, the designers are there, the questions go back and forth, really listening to what the athletes have to say. Athletes have opinions about what they want and what they need. It seemed like they were hearing about clothing designs for the first time. When it comes to fashion design, we are not yet inclusive and diverse at all. And obviously in sports, functional, technical wear, it matters.

This is the true essence of inclusion. You have eminent people in every field coming together for everyone and that is what makes it so unique and special. Nigel Barker

Barker said about the ongoing program, Everyone gung-ho. It gives everyone a positive boost during difficult times and that kind of creativity springs from it. Athletes are excited, like ordinary people, to see something created and designed. From a designer’s perspective, I think there’s a level of collaboration that they don’t expect where they can expand their offerings and the diversity of the types of designs they can do. From a commercial point of view, it’s great for designers to understand that there are other markets as a whole. When you design for everyone, you also create better scenarios for yourself as a designer. This is very interesting for all involved. It’s a dream come true and it’s just getting started.

This dream goes beyond Be Brave. “Everyone has a great story about the Special Olympics or working in this area and they all want to help, everyone wants to be involved and for me that’s very satisfying and also shows that real change is possible,” said Barker. We’re moving on to try to make this not a conversation, because it’s the first conversation. Basically, it will not happen once we have achieved true inclusion. What it is aiming for is true inclusion so this happens all the time.

The Special Olympics began in 1968 as a backyard summer camp for people with intellectual disabilities and today, it is a global movement. Kelli Seely, head of marketing, development and communications, Special Olympics International, hopes this collaboration continues to expand globally and into the fashion industry.

Seely said, This initiative is a direct legacy of our founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She was a pioneer in the worldwide struggle for rights and acceptance for people with intellectual disabilities. The Parsons School of Design and Special Olympics collaboration serves as an example of how Special Olympics athletes, and all individuals with intellectual disabilities, are in many ways becoming teachers in today’s changing global marketplace, challenging the world to be more inclusive in all aspects of life.