Stylists for blind people to appear in Moscow

The "Fashionable Blind" project was launched in Moscow, aimed at helping blind and visually impaired residents of the city of Moscow in creating and maintaining an attractive external image. It was initiated by a team of visually impaired Muscovites that won the "Act without Barriers" competition. On December 11, the first master class for stylists took place, during which the participants were immersed in complete darkness, where, in fact, standing in the place of blind people, they performed various exercises under the guidance of trainers. The main task of the master class was to choose a set of clothes for four blind models. Participants could only touch things, communicate with models and discuss among themselves how to build bows. At the end of the part in the dark, the participants saw the results of their work and discussed among themselves and with the blind participants what difficulties and challenges they faced in their work.

In total, within the framework of the "Fashionable Blind" project from December 2021 to March 2022, four master classes will be held with the participation of stylists and blind people under the guidance of expert Anna Rykova, fashion stylist, fashion editor and fashion consultant with global experience in the fashion industry more 20 years old, teacher of Styling and Image-Making, Photography and Fashion-Video courses at the British Higher School of Art and Design.

The project sets itself the following tasks:

● Training a group of stylists to work with blind people

● Creating a guide for stylists on working with the blind

● Organization of a community of such specialists

● Create a style guide for the blind so they can also choose their own clothing

● Creation of a platform for the selection of stylists by blind people

● Testing a new service using a focus group

The project consultant is Yanina Urusova, co-founder of the Bezgraniz Couture project, a consultant on the inclusion of disability in the business processes of companies. She is responsible for ensuring the sustainability of the project, attracting experts, creating an international resonance, fundraising and partnership programs.

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“We work, relax, go to museums and just walk around the city. We are a part of society, - says Tatiana Belova, a team member, author of the idea and head of the Fashionable Blind project. - Yes, we do not see, but everyone else sees us, and for us, as for everyone, it is important to make a good impression. Clothing is a social marker. A stylishly dressed person makes a good impression in one way or another in any social situation, from being in public places and places of cultural entertainment to a job interview and just any communication. By creating this project, we want to help all blind and visually impaired people to have equal opportunities in access to stylists' services, including attracting the attention of the fashion community and business to target audiences like us. "

According to a survey conducted among the blind and visually impaired in 2021, 61,5% of respondents use the help of relatives when choosing clothes, shoes, accessories, 50,6% - the help of friends and acquaintances, 41% resort to the help of consultants in stores. This does not coincide with the needs of the blind and prevents the disclosure of their individuality. 86,4% of the respondents would like to use the new social service, 73,7% are ready to pay for it at a reasonable price. Often blind people are faced with the fact that consultants in stores offer more expensive or not matching their taste goods, or do not know how to communicate with them. Choosing clothes, shoes and accessories both offline and online is still difficult.

“Creating a community of professional stylists who are ready to work with blind clients will be one of the means of their integration into society. This new social service will enable the blind and visually impaired to feel more confident, help to form a suitable image, reveal their inner personality through an external image, develop a sense of style, increase the culture of relations between the sighted and the blind and ultimately increase the chances of blind specialists when hiring. " - says the project consultant Yanina Urusova.

“Fashionable Blind” is a pilot phase to create a sustainable social-entrepreneurial project created by blind people for blind people. After the end of the pilot phase and approbation of the consulting methodology in March 2022, it is planned to create a permanent professional service of stylists for a new target audience operating throughout Russia. There is no such service in the world today either. Thus, the project made in Russia will be the first of its kind.

The project is carried out with the support of the Moscow City Organization of VOS (Moscow City Organization of VOS) and the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Moscow City population within the framework of the “Act without Barriers” program.

Project partners: Netology, SkillBox, British Higher School of Design, Fashion Factory, British Higher School of Design, Urban Tiger brand, State Museum and Cultural Center “Integration” named after N. Ostrovsky, “Dialogue in the Dark”, project on sustainable development Plus One, Eyezone.