Ellen Fowles
Ellen Fowles is an adaptive clothing design researcher based in London. She is a visiting lecturer at Kingston University and the Head of Research at Open Style Lab, a non-profit organisation committed to making fashion accessible to people of all abilities.
After graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2020, she decided to specialise in adaptive clothing co-designed with people in older age and the disabled community. Ellen is a member of the Design Age Institute’s directory of ageing and inclusive design experts and works as a freelance consultant for industry-leading fashion brands exploring human-centred design methodologies. She has been recognised in competitions and exhibitions that champion socially sustainable and healthcare-conscious design. Most recently, she placed as a finalist in the ‘Grand Prix Inclusive Design’ competition with Eyes on Talents and Paris Good Fashion and has exhibited work in ‘Design in an Age of Crisis’ at the London Design Biennale in partnership with Chatham House. Ellen has presented her work to international audiences at events such as HASTAC Critical Making & Social Justice at Pratt in New York and the 4S Society for Social Studies of Science conference in Madrid. She is also a co-author of the recently published book Wearable Utopias: Imagining, Inventing and Inhabiting New Worlds, a collection of thought-provoking interviews with designers who transform ordinary wearables into extraordinary sites of personal expression, public engagement, and radical political action.
Ellen’s work sits at the intersection of healthcare and fashion. It, therefore, requires thorough multi-disciplinary collaboration, qualitative research with participatory co-design methods, and expert knowledge of technical apparel construction. She has participated in research projects with Microsoft, the European Space Agency and the Atlanta Parks & Recreation Department. Together with these organisations and as an independent practitioner, she has co-designed and consulted with stroke rehabilitation patients, NHS staff, Paralympians, neurodivergent people, and those living with cognitive disabilities. Ellen’s research and design practice interrogates our understanding of social sustainability, circular systems thinking, body image and accessibility. She makes clothing that supports wearers in clinical settings and everyday use, providing comfort and destigmatising the experience of being a patient. She aims to offer a dignified, more tailored aesthetic than the pyjamas or ill-fitting sportswear options that many are left with and to create garments that both disabled and able-bodied people can enjoy.
