Launch of Special Olympics Fashion Course 2023

Inclusive Fashion: A Collaboration for Change

Zalando, a prominent European fashion platform, partnered with Lette Verein School in Berlin. They offered a unique course named ‘Designing for Disability Inclusion’. The goal is to inspire young designers to embrace adaptive fashion. Twelve apprentices teamed up with four intellectually disabled athletes. Their task was to create custom-tailored outfits. During this process, they learned to consider the specific needs of disabled individuals. Zalando product developers and Special Olympics representatives provided guidance. A photo shoot took place at Berlin’s Olympic Park. The athletes modeled their custom outfits, with Mike Meyer, a renowned fashion photographer, behind the lens.

Collaborative Designs: The Community Effort

Zalando aspires to become the starting point for fashion for everyone. They strive to achieve this by actively collaborating with communities, gathering their input, and incorporating their feedback into the product design process, while also carrying out thorough research. During a professional photoshoot at the Olympic Park, the athletes and their bespoke outfits captured the spotlight. You can download these images, along with behind-the-scenes footage of the design process at Lette Verein, which spanned several months. In addition to the fashion design class at Lette Verein, Zalando encouraged its employees to engage more personally with the world’s largest inclusive sporting event. Over 100 Zalando employees actively participate in various sports, merchandise sales, and logistical roles such as transport, maintenance, and cleaning, contributing to the success of the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023.

About the Partners

Founded in Berlin in 2008, Zalando stands as one of Europe’s leading online platforms for fashion and lifestyle. It currently serves over 51 million active customers across 25 countries, offering a wide range of products in clothing, shoes, accessories, and cosmetics. The Special Olympics commits to offering year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Meanwhile, Lette Verein Berlin, with its diverse student body of around 800, provides ten distinct training courses in design, health, and technology. It also offers a multitude of opportunities in its new Do-it-yourself | DIY-College focusing on nutrition, supply, and sustainability.