A first-time catwalk model from Whitefield is championing the message that accessible fashion should be available to everyone ahead of a major Disability Pride fashion show in Manchester.
Advertising creative Aaliyah Rice, 24, is one of 16 models - female, non-binary and male - who will take part in the most inclusive fashion show the city has ever staged.
Aaliyah, who was diagnosed with ADHD aged 21, signed up to take part after seeing an open casting call on TikTok. She said she thought it would be "such a fun experience and a chance to meet like-minded people".
She said: "Mainstream fashion on a whole is entirely unaccommodating even for an able-bodied person. Things like sizing and fit are generally a nightmare. I can only imagine the extra layer of hell having a physical disability brings to clothes shopping.
"My own personal experience is with clothes that give me sensory issues - things like tags, textures and seams that cause me distress and take my focus away from other things. It makes it more challenging to shop, as most of the clothes that don't cause me sensory issues aren't fashionable or stylish and when you don't feel confident you can't embrace life the way you want. I'm a strong believer that accessible fashion is fashion for all."
Talking about her relatively late ADHD diagnosis, Aaliyah said: "The biggest benefit I gained is just the relief of knowing that I'm not failing as a human.
"It was mostly when I went to uni and was functioning on my own that I really realised how much I was struggling with supporting myself and keeping on top of work and thought it best to seek out a diagnosis.
"I can navigate and make accommodations to my life now knowing they're in place because of my ADHD and not feel guilt around having to do things differently than others. I always felt different from everyone and couldn't put my finger on it until I was diagnosed."
Aged from 20s-50s, every model who will travel the runway at the Disability Pride Catwalk at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, is disabled, neurodivergent or chronically ill. All will wear adaptive fashion designs from a young, ambitious Manchester label called RECONDITION.
Each garment in RECONDITION's denim-centred collection, has been designed with and for disabled people. Research from disability charity Leonard Cheshire found that mainstream fashion in the UK does not meet the needs of three quarters of disabled people.
Adaptations built into RECONDITION's inclusive designs include front pockets on jeans for wheelchair users, ring pull zips for people with reduced dexterity and sleeves with poppers along their full length to help accommodate prosthetic limbs or medical equipment from feeding tubes to insulin pumps.
RECONDITION was launched in 2025 by Manchester Metropolitan University fashion graduate Ellie Brown. Ellie's eyes were opened to how unaccommodating fashion can be in 2021, when she badly broke her ankle, which resulted in her using a wheelchair for several months.
Ellie said: "The Disability Pride Catwalk is a safe space for people to celebrate bodies of all kinds whilst enjoying the atmosphere and experience of a runway show.
"I also hope the event will provoke useful discussions about how fashion - and society as a whole - can take more accountability for inclusivity."
According to government figures, a quarter of people in the UK have a disability - that's 16.8m people. And in state pension aged people, the figure rises to almost half (45%).
The Disability Pride Catwalk takes place at Aviva Studios on Saturday 27 June 2026 ahead of Disability Awareness Month. Tickets are free.
Disability Pride Catwalk: A Space for Each Other
Saturday 27 June 2026 6-8pm
The Undercroft, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ
FREE
https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/disability-pride-catwalk/
