The first thing that came to mind from this reading is the designer, Destiny Pinto. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis which required her to wear compression gloves to manage the pain and swelling. However, this gloves looked too “medical” and implied that it should be hidden or that one should be ashamed to wore it. She decided to break this sterotype and redesign the gloves to make them look more stylish and personal. Eventually, she expanded this idea to other assistive devices and launched her label, By Destiny Pinto. She redesigned and reimagined widely used assistive devices such as compression gloves, ostomy bags, and hearing aids through a more fashion-oriented perspective.
The reading made me rethink her label and its purpose, is she trying to hide the disability through redesigning them? Or is she empowering people to be proud of their disabilities? In my opinion, I think her line allows people to feel more empowered and removes that restriction of having a medical devices that doesn’t match your style, but rather, that adds to your outfit. Instead of trying to hide your medical device, it becomes your unique statement piece.
Another discussion that I found interesting in the reading are glasses, and them being considered a disability device. Of course, as the reading states, this is not a disability device that stigmatised or honestly, even referred to as a disability device. Eyewear has also slowly become more and more of fashion piece and an accessory, even people who don’t need glasses wear them. Personally, I’m someone who does wear glasses and has been for almost my whole life. I still vividly remember being really excited about wearing glasses and then also getting mocked and called a nerd for wearing them. However, luckily as I’ve grown up, I’ve become more confident with my glasses and I really enjoy purchasing a new pair every few months. I have also recently started wearing contact lenses but I still find myself missing my glasses!