‘Crippling Masculinity’ exhibit explores intersectionality of disability and fashion

Exhibit concludes research collaboration between Toronto Metropolitan University and University of Alberta

By: The Creative School Staff

January 16, 2024

Researchers from Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Alberta collaborated to create ‘Cripping Masculinity,’ an exhibition unravelling how Disability, Deaf, or Mad Identified Men (Cis or Trans) and Masculine Identified Non-Binary People express and navigate their identities through clothing in their everyday lives.

Fashion Professor Dr. Ben Barry and University of Alberta Professor Dr. Megan Strickfaden co-investigators on this project partnered with The Creative School’s Design + Technology LAB to scan, prototype, and fabricate 3D models of their participants.

The research project seeks to redefine perceptions of gender, disability and fashion emphasizing vitality, and creativity. This involves engaging participants through various activities including interviews on their clothing choices, clothing design workshops, and fashion shows and exhibitions.

Exploring the intersection between disability and fashion

This exhibition showcases a selection of everyday clothing and re-made garments from participants in Cripping Masculinity. The clothing and stories highlight the fashion imagination and wisdom that comes from the experiences of disabled masculinities, demonstrating how closing off access to prevailing systems of fashion and masculinity opens up alternatives that foster belonging, creativity, and desire for disability.

“In all of my talk about fashion being creative and fun, I don’t want to deny about how clothing is also this access to life for us and that particularly for BIPOC disabled folks,” said Dr. Barry. “I think justice and liberation in fashion is about creating a Crip fashion community and Crip fashion industry, while simultaneously changing existing dominant fashion systems that are grounded in ableism and able-bodiedness.”

‘Crippling Masculinity’ exhibit showing multiple coloured mannequins wearing clothing. Some of the mannequins are visibly disabled and on wheel chairs.

The idea for a research project focusing on fashion, disability, and masculinity was originally discussed five years ago, said Dr. Strickfaden. Both Dr. Barry and Dr. Strickfaden have extensive experience in researching fashion and disability, respectively.

“From the onset, Ben and I wanted to focus on both cross-disability and intersectionality. Ben was really interested in fashion and masculinity and I've done quite a lot of research on disability. So it was kind of bringing these two concepts together: the intersection of masculinity and disability,” Dr. Strickfaden said. “We were particularly interested in people who identify with masculinity as opposed to any sort of social constructs around what masculinity is. And the same thing with disability; how people identify with disability as opposed to the social construct.”

Mannequin of a disabled person on a wheel chair wearing Toronto Maple Leafs pants, jacket, and hat

Pink mannequin wearing a magenta patterned shirt with black jeans

From digital scans to 3D printing

When sourcing participants, the research team narrowed down the scans to seven participant bodies in Toronto. All the mannequins used in the exhibits were created at the Design + Technology LAB, from producing 3D digital scans of the participant bodies to then 3D printing and painting them as well, explained Philippa Nesbit, a PhD student Research Assistant for the project. Each participant chose the colour of their mannequin as well as the garments they preferred to be featured, as well as different types of mobility devices.

“A big part of this project is about engaging with fashion as a form of identity formation and as a form of resistance, but also as a form of participating in a world that's been more or less shut off to a certain type of person, specifically disabled people,” Nesbit explained. “We’re aiming to push up against those normative mannequin bodies and welcome new identities into the dominant fashion system.”

To learn more about the Cripping Masculinity project, visit their website (external link) or social media (external link) .

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