Jennifer Poage

Jennifer is a PhD Candidate at the London College of Fashion. The aim of her design research is to develop pragmatic guidance for sportswear industry designers to address inclusion of people with an upper limb impairment or difference within the mainstream market. Applying the social model of disability, barriers of sportswear exclusion were mapped on industry, social, and garment levels. Within a participatory design approach, primary research entailed iterative stakeholder engagement with sportswear industry designers and the user community through interviews, workshops, and feedback sessions. The final output is a visual toolkit to guide sportswear designers in better understanding and collaborating with this consumer group for more relevant mainstream product offerings. Broader implications include application of this framework and toolkit to facilitate design inclusion of other marginalised groups in apparel industry, fashion design education, or design research.

Prior to her PhD, Jennifer completed an MA at London College of Fashion in Fashion Design Management, which focused on collaboration tools for sportswear designers and biomechanics professionals. She also worked as a technical designer for US sportswear brands.