"Roll Models" and Designer Wheelchairs Add New Spin to Famed New York Fashion Week

[Max]

"Roll Models" and Designer Wheelchairs Add New Spin to Famed New York Fashion Week



FRESNO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- January 10, 2007 -- We invite you to consider: What would a St. John wheelchair look like? Rich in color, elegant and sophisticated, like their collections? How about a Kimora Lee Simmons Baby Phat wheelchair? Pink, funky and fabulous? And then there's Nicole Miller, Zang Toi, Marc Bouwer, Lloyd Klein and Thom Browne.
After New York's Fashion Week, you won't have to rely on your imagination. You can see firsthand that a wheelchair can be more than an empowering mobility aid, but also a bold fashion statement. Discovery Through Design, a not-for-profit organization founded by four remarkable women, has tapped a host of top designers to participate in its new fashion event, the Rolling with Style Gala, set for Tuesday, Feb. 6, at Cipriani at 42nd Street during New York's couture Fashion Week.
This veritable who's who of designers are donating their time and considerable talent to create one-of-a-kind designer Quickie wheelchairs, as well as complementary fashion ensembles, for their "Roll Models," four women who were chosen in a national search for their inspirational responses to their disabilities.

(Click here for details)
Artist rendering of couture wheelchair concept.

The Rolling with Style Gala, hosted by Leslie Stahl, of CBS "60 Minutes," will offer a full evening of celebration: a black-tie dinner; a fashion show with super models, as well as Roll Models; and live entertainment. "A sense of beauty and self is vital, and this event is the first step in our campaign to change the way our society perceives women in wheelchairs," proclaims co-Chairwoman Ashley Lauren Fisher.
All proceeds from the gala, plus the donations of generous sponsors, will benefit the Christopher Reeve Foundation, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and The Spinal Cord Injury Project at Rutgers University.
The four founders of Discovery Through Design and "Chairwomen" of Rolling with Style include Marilyn Hamilton (Carmel, Calif.), the co-inventor of the ultra light, compact, maneuverable Quickie wheelchair, plus disability champions Ashley Lauren Fisher (Morristown, N.J.), Wendy Crawford (Miami Shores, Fla.) and Julia Dorsett (Boca Raton, Fla.). Each were on a fast track to dynamic, high-powered lives in sports, the arts, fashion or business when varying accidents robbed them of their mobility and landed them in wheelchairs. However, they refused to allow their disability to strip them of their dignity or passion for life. As Hamilton says, "Properly fitted wheelchairs that look great not only give us confidence, but also allow us to get out there and go after our dreams in other areas of our lives. Full participation and integration into society is what all people want, whether in a wheelchair or not."
It was Crawford who first came up with the idea for these exceptional women to join forces in Discovery Through Design. The Chairwomen came together with these objectives: to banish stereotypes of women with disabilities; to celebrate the accomplishments of disabled women; to promote unbiased treatment, and to raise funds for women's healthcare initiatives and spinal cord injury research.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release...ease_id=201907

[van damn]

I have a Roll Model jersey off of ebay.Is it the same org.?

[betheny]

Hey I'm liking these ladies.

[Tiger Racing]

Originally Posted by betheny

Hey I'm liking these ladies.

I'm reserving final judgment until after the fact. This could be very cool or it could be a freak show. Depends on how it's presented and how it's reported.

Personally, I want my wheelchair to be cool, but subtle. I want people to notice me first, not the chair. An animal print chair is like having a green mnohawk. It not only stands out, it certainly doesn't go with everything one might have in their closet.

C.

[Jadis]

I was on their page a few months back. I think I did a search and ended up there by following a few interesting links.

http://www.discoverythroughdesign.org/

They are an interesting group of ladies.

Video of info on the gala: http://www.discoverythroughdesign.or...te-video2.html

[Juke_spin]

Originally Posted by Jadis

I was on their page a few months back. I think I did a search and ended up there by following a few interesting links.

http://www.discoverythroughdesign.org/

They are an interesting group of ladies.

Video of info on the gala: http://www.discoverythroughdesign.or...te-video2.html

Thanks for the video link, Jadis, that was fun and informative.

[antiquity]

Thanks for the link Jadis. This is way cool. I see that Melissa Holly is one of the roll models!

I like the message that one can pursue happiness and success and still support cure efforts. It challenges the misconception that the two are mutually exclusive.