I love fashion. I actually go to bed every night thinking about what I'm going to wear the next day. Clothing transforms me, defines me, gives me confidence. You may not feel the same way about fashion, but I bet you have a favorite T-shirt or a pair of jeans that transforms you -- makes you feel good, makes you feel confident, makes you feel like you.
Obožavam modu. Svake večeri odlazim u krevet i razmišljam što ću odjenuti sljedećeg dana. Odjeća me mijenja, određuje, čini me samouvjerenom. Možda nemate jednak stav prema modi, ali sigurno imate omiljenu majicu ili traperice koje vas čine drugačijima -- u kojima se osjećate dobro, u kojima se osjećate samouvjereno i posebno.
When I was younger, I wanted to be Betsey Johnson. I thought we were kindred, crazy-hair spirits together. I did go to fashion design, I worked in the industry for years and loved it.
Kada sam bila mlađa, željela sam izgledati kao Betsey Johnson. Vjerovala sam da smo srodne duše čupavih frizura. Završila sam modni dizajn i radila u modnoj industriji niz godina, obožavala sam to.
I married, I had three kids. But life can be heartbreakingly ironic. My middle child, Oliver, was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, or MD. MD affects his muscle strength, his pulmonary system, distorts his body and makes everyday life more challenging than most. From the time he could walk, which wasn't until about two and a half, he had to wear leg braces for stability. Because he wasn't growing appropriately, he had to wear a feeding tube that was placed on his face. He endured stares, and so did I.
Udala sam se i dobila troje djece. Ali život zna biti okrutno ironičan. Srednje dijete, Oliver, rođen je s rijetkim oblikom mišićne distrofije, skraćeno MD. MD pogađa njegovu mišićnu snagu, njegov dišni sustav, iskrivljuje mu tijelo, što čini njegovu svakodnevicu punom izazova. Od trenutka kada je prohodao, s nekih dvije, dvije i pol godine, morao je nositi proteze zbog stabilnosti. Uslijed teškoća u razvoju, morao se hraniti putem sonde vidljive na njegovom licu. Trpio je poglede i ja zajedno s njim.
But my husband Greg and I told him that no matter what, he was just like everybody else. But everyday tasks for Oliver that we all take for granted were incredibly challenging. That simple act of dressing yourself -- the very thing that I adore -- was a nightmare for him. His form of MD does not affect his mind. His brain is an A-plus, which means he's acutely aware of his shortcomings. This became very evident when he started school, and that daily act of dressing yourself was a constant reminder of what he could and could not do. So our solution was for Oliver to wear sweatpants every day: to school, to parties, on vacations -- his uniform. For special occasions, he would wear proper pants. But many times, because he couldn't manage the button and zipper, I would have to take him to the men's room, which was incredibly embarrassing for him and the other men that were in there. But them -- I said, "Oh, please. There's nothing I haven't seen before."
Moj suprug Greg i ja smo mu govorili da bez obzira na sve, on je isti kao i svi ostali. Oliveru su svakodnevne aktivnosti, koje mi uzimamo zdravo za gotovo, bile iznimno teške. Jednostavan čin odijevanja, upravo ono što ja obožavam -- njemu je bila noćna mora. Njegov oblik MD-a ne utječe na inteligenciju. Njegov je mozak "čista petica", zbog čega je on itekako svjestan svojih ograničenja. To je postalo vidljivo njegovim polaskom u školu i taj ga svakodnevni čin odijevanja stalno podsjeća na to što može, a što ne. Naše je rješenje bilo da Oliver svaki dan nosi trenirku: u školu, na zabave, na izlete, kao svoju uniformu. U posebnim prilikama nosio bi prave hlače. Kako sam nije mogao zakopčati gumb i povući zatvarač, često sam ga pratila u muški toalet, što je za njega bilo iznimno neugodno, ali i za muškarce koji su se tamo našli. Njima sam rekla, "Ma dajte, nema tu ništa što već nisam vidjela."
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
For years we muddled through. But when Oliver was in third grade, I found out he was more like me than I ever imagined. Oliver, too, cared about fashion. He came home from school one day and said very definitively that he was going to wear jeans to school like everybody else gets to wear. Well, I certainly couldn't go to class with him and take him to the boys' room, but there was no way I was telling my eight-year-old that he couldn't wear what he wanted to wear.
Godinama smo se tako mučili. Oliver je bio u trećem razredu, kada sam shvatila koliko smo slični. I Olivera je zanimala moda. Jednog dana došao je iz škole i odlučno izjavio da će za školu odjenuti traperice kao i svi ostali. U školu s njim nisam mogla kako bih ga vodila na toalet, no, isto tako nisam mogla reći svom osmogodišnjaku da ne može nositi ono što želi.
So that night, I MacGyvered the hell out of his jeans. I remembered when I was pregnant and unwilling to stop wearing my own favorite pants, even though I was busting out of them, that rubber-band trick. You moms remember what I'm talking about? The rubber band through the buttonhole, around the button and back? Instant stretch. So I removed the zipper so he could pull it up and down on his own. I cut up the side seam of the bottom of his pants to accommodate for his leg braces, applied Velcro -- hold your ears, everybody: peel and stick, mind you -- so that it would close around it. When I showed Oliver my arts and crafts project, he absolutely beamed. He went into school with his head held so high. Those jeans transformed him. He was able to get dressed on his own, he was able to go to the bathroom on his own; those jeans gave him confidence.
Te sam noći od tih traperica napravila ono nemoguće. Sjetila sam se svoje trudnoće i svoje odlučnosti da i dalje mogu navući traperice, iako se činilo da će eksplodirati, sjetila sam se trika s gumicom. Mame znaju o čemu govorim. Provući gumicu kroz otvor za gumb, oko gumba i natrag? I hlače su rastezljive. Uklonila sam zatvarač kako bi ih sam mogao spustiti i opet navući. Rasparala sam spojeve na nogavicama kako bi mogao provući proteze i ušila čičak -- naćulite uši: odlijepi i zalijepi -- tako da ih pokrije. Kad sam Oliveru pokazala svoj mali krojački projekt, bio je oduševljen. Otišao je u školu visoko uzdignute glave. Te su ga traperice promijenile. Ponovo se mogao sam odjenuti, mogao je sam na toalet. Traperice su mu vratile samopouzdanje.
I didn't realize it at the time, but this was my first foray into the world of adaptive clothing. Adaptive clothing is defined as clothing designed for people with disabilities, the elderly and anyone who struggles with dressing themselves. Adaptive clothing did exist, but it was missing that mainstream fashion component. It was very medicinal and very functional but not stylish. And that's a huge problem, because what you wear matters. Clothing can affect your mood, your health and your self-esteem.
Tada to još nisam osvijestila, ali to je bio moj prvi korak u svijet prilagođene odjeće. Prilagođena odjeća je odjeća dizajnirana za osobe s teškoćama, za starije osobe i ostale koji imaju teškoće u samostalnom odijevanju. Takva je odjeća već postojala, ali joj je nedostajala modna komponenta. Bila je medicinska i vrlo funkcionalna, ali ne baš lijepa. A to je velik nedostatak, jer je bitno što nosiš na sebi. Odjeća može utjecati na vaše raspoloženje, vaše zdravlje i na vaše samopouzdanje.
Now, being a fashion lover, I've known this forever, but scientists actually have a name for it. It's called "Enclothed Cognition," the co-occurrence of two factors: the symbolic meaning of clothing and the physical experience of wearing the clothing, both of which have a direct correlation to how you feel about yourself. There's actually a professor in the UK by the name of Karen J. Pine. She wrote a book called "Mind What You Wear: The Psychology of Fashion." She states in her book that when you put clothes on, you adapt the characteristics of what you're wearing, whether you realize it or not. That's why you feel like a rock star when you put on those perfect-fitting jeans. That's why you feel invincible when you put on that power suit, and that's why you feel beautiful in that little black dress. But that's exactly why Oliver felt so isolated when he couldn't wear what he wanted to wear. He even said to me one time, "Mom, wearing sweatpants every day makes me feel like I'm dressing disabled."
Kao ljubitelj mode, svjesna sam toga oduvijek. Čak i znanost ima naziv za to. "Odjevna kognicija", pojavnost koja ovisi o dva faktora: o simboličkom značenju odjeće i tjelesnom doživljaju onog što smo odjenuli. Oba faktora izravno utječu na to kako se osjećate. Profesorica Karen J. Pine iz Velike Britanije napisala je knjigu "Pazite što ćete odjenuti: Psihologija mode." Autorica u knjizi ističe, da kada nešto odjenete, prihvaćate karakteristike onog što ste odjenuli, bilo da ste svjesni toga ili ne. Zbog toga se osjećate poput rock zvijezde kada navučete traperice koje vam savršeno pristaju. Zbog toga se osjećate nepobjedivi kada obučete odijelo, zbog toga se osjećate predivno u maloj crnoj haljini. Upravo zato se Oliver osjećao izoliranim, jer nije mogao birati što će odjenuti. Jednom mi je čak rekao, "Mama, zbog nošenja trenirke svaki dan osjećam se kao da imam posebne potrebe u odijevanju."
There are one billion people on our planet that experience some type of disability. One billion. If 10 percent of that billion experience clothing challenges, that's an enormous amount of people that may not be as confident, as successful or even as happy as they could be. The morning after Oliver left for school wearing those jeans, I realized that I could do something about that. And so I did.
Na svijetu je milijarda ljudi s nekom vrstom teškoće. Milijarda. Ako 10% od tih milijardu ima teškoće u odijevanju, to je ogroman broj ljudi koji se ne osjećaju samouvjereno, uspješno ili sretno, a mogli bi biti. Sljedećeg jutra kada je Oliver otišao u školu noseći te traperice, shvatila sam da mogu nešto promijeniti. I jesam.
In 2013, I founded an organization called Runway of Dreams. The mission was to educate the fashion industry that modifications could be made to mainstream clothing for this community that has never been served. And it began with an entire year of research. I went to schools, I went to facilities, I went to hospitals. I literally chased down people on the street who were in wheelchairs or if they had walkers or even if they had a slight limp.
2013. osnovala sam udrugu "Runway of Dreams". [Staza snova] Cilj je bio poručiti modnoj industriji da je moguće prilagoditi uobičajenu odjeću ovoj zapostavljenoj grupi ljudi. Sve je započelo jednogodišnjim istraživanjem. Obilazila sam škole, ustanove, bolnice. Doslovno sam jurila ulicom za ljudima u invalidskim kolicima ili hodalicama, čak i ako su samo šepali.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
I know I must have looked insane, but I knew that if I was really going to make a difference, I had to truly understand the clothing challenges of as many different people as I possibly could.
Vjerojatno sam izgledala kao luđakinja, no, ako uistinu želim nešto promijeniti, morala sam dobro upoznati teškoće u odijevanju čim većeg broja ljudi.
I met a young man who was 18 who has cerebral palsy. He was going to Harvard University. He said to me, "Can you imagine? I got myself into Harvard, but my dream is to be able to wear jeans on campus, like the other freshmen will wear." I met a little girl named Gianna, who was missing her left forearm and her hand. Her mother told me she could not bear to see her daughter's difference magnified by a dangling sleeve, so she had every single long-sleeve shirt professionally tailored. Can you imagine the time and money she spent? I also had the great privilege of spending time with Eric LeGrand, former Rutgers football player who was paralyzed during a tackle in 2010. I had, at this point, seen some unfathomable things, but this, by far, was the most heart-stopping.
Upoznala sam osamnaestogodišnjeg mladića s cerebralnom paralizom. Studirao je na Harvardu. Rekao mi je, "Možete li zamisliti? upisao sam se na Harvard, a meni je san nositi traperice po kampusu, kao što će nositi i ostali brucoši." Upoznala sam djevojčicu, Giannu, koja nije imala lijevu podlakticu. Njena mi je majka rekla da je neizmjerno smeta što stanje njene kćeri pojačava taj rukav koji visi pa stoga krojaču daje na kraćenje rukav svake košulje. Možete li zamisliti koliko je vremena i novaca potrošila? Imala sam i veliku čast upoznati Erica LeGranda, bivšeg ragbijaša Rutgersa, paraliziranog od udarca na utakmici 2010. Do tog sam trenutka vidjela mnogo toga neopisivog, no, od ovog mi je srce stalo.
You see, Eric is a really big guy, and it took two aides and a lifting machine to get him dressed. I sat and watched this process for over two hours. When I expressed my shock to Eric, he looked at me and said, "Mindy, this is every single day. What can I say? I like to look sharp."
Eric je krupan momak i treba mu pomoć dva asistenta i lifta kako bi ga se odjenulo. Sjela sam i pratila taj proces preko dva sata. Rekavši Ericu koliko sam šokirana, pogledao me i rekao, "Mindy, tako je svakog dana. Što da kažem? Volim izgledati naočito."
Research done.
Istraživanje je završilo.
I knew that if I was going to make a change in the industry, I had to use my background and really figure out how to make these clothes modified. So I took the information I gathered over that past year, and I figured out that there were actually three categories that were affected across the board. The first were closures. Buttons, snaps, zippers, hook-and-eyes were a challenge for almost everybody. So I replaced them with a more manageable technology: magnets. Magnets made our Harvard freshman able to wear jeans on campus, because he could dress himself.
Znala sam, ako želim učiniti promjene u industriji, moram iskoristiti svoje znanje i pronaći način kako modificirati odjeću. Iskoristila sam informacije prikupljene tijekom godine dana i utvrdila da postoje tri kategorije koje predstavljaju problem. Prva je zatvaranje odjeće. Gumbi, zatvarači, kukice predstavljaju gotovo svima problem. Stoga sam ih zamijenila mnogo jednostavnijom tehnologijom: magnetima. Zbog magneta, naš brucoš s Harvarda može nositi traperice, jer se može sam odjenuti.
Second: adjustability. Pant lengths, sleeve lengths, waistbands were a challenge for so many different-shaped bodies. So I added elastic, an internal hemming system. This way, Gianna could wear a shirt right off the rack and just adjust the one sleeve.
Druga kategorija je prilagodljivost. Duljina nogavica, rukava i širina struka mnogima su problem zbog građe tijela. Stoga sam dodala elastične trake u sve vrste pasica. Tako Gianna može uzeti košulju s police i odmah je odjenuti. Samo treba prilagoditi rukav.
Last: alternate ways to get the clothing on and off the body, outside the traditional way of over your head. So I designed a way to go in arms first. This, for somebody like Eric, could actually take five steps off his dressing process and give him back the gift of time.
I posljednje: promijeniti način oblačenja i svlačenja odjeće mimo klasičnog načina navlačenja preko glave. Predložila sam način da ruke idu prve. To bi nekome, poput Erica, smanjilo broj potrebnih radnji u procesu odijevanja i uštedjelo vrijeme.
So I went out, I bought clothing right off the rack, I sat at my kitchen table, ripped them apart, did prototype after prototype, until I felt I had great modifications. And then I was ready for the big leagues: the fashion industry. Rather than designing my own collection, I knew if I was really going to make a difference, I had to go mainstream. I believed that I just needed to educate the industry of the enormity of this population and the fact that these were consumers that simply weren't being considered.
Otišla sam u kupovinu, kupila odjeću s polica, sjela za kuhinjski stol, rasparala je i nizala prototipove, sve dok nisam našla pravo rješenje. Tek sam tada bila spremna za velike face u modnoj industriji. Umjesto da stvaram svoju kolekciju, znala sam, da ako želim stvarnu promjenu, moram se obratiti industriji. Bila sam uvjerena da industrija treba znati koliko je brojna ova populacija i da su to potrošači, klijenti, koji su jednostavno zaboravljeni.
And I am thrilled to say that the industry heard me. Runway of Dreams collaborated with the most amazing, forward-thinking brand on our planet --
Sa zadovoljstvom vam mogu reći da su me poslušali. Runway of Dreams ostvario je suradnju s nevjerojatnim, planetarno uspješnim brendom --
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
who took my vision to market and made fashion history by launching the first mainstream adaptive collection. And the rest is yet to come.
koji su tržištu ponudili moju viziju i ušli u povijest mode kao prvi brend s prilagodljivom kolekcijom. I to nije kraj.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
So --
Stoga --
(Applause)
(Pljesak)
Fashion holds the key to a vital lifeline. Clothing can be transformative. Clothing equals confidence. So tomorrow, when you are starting your day and you're thinking about what you're going to wear, I hope you appreciate the process and think about how what you chose makes you feel.
Moda zauzma važno mjesto u našim životima. Odjeća nas mijenja. Odjeća je samopouzdanje. Stoga sutra, kada započnete svoj dan i razmišljate što ćete odjenuti, budite svjesni ovog procesa i razmislite kako se osjećate, dok birate odjeću.
Today, Oliver is 13. He wears his adaptive khakis, his magnetic button-front shirt -- feels like the coolest kid around. My boy has total swagger.
Oliver sada ima 13 godina. Nosi svoje prilagodljive kaki hlače, košulju s magnetima i osjeća se kao cool klinac. Moj dečko je prava faca.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
As I mentioned, Oliver's disease is degenerative, which means his muscles are going to break down over time. This, by far, is the most devastating part for me. I have to sit on the sidelines and watch my boy deteriorate. And there's nothing I can do about it. So I am looking up from the things that I cannot control to the things that I can, because I have no option.
Kao što sam spomenula, njegova je bolest degenerativna i njegovi će mišići sve više propadati. I to je ono što me slama iznutra. Što moram promatrati sa strane i gledati kako moj dečko propada. Mogu samo bespomoćno promatrati. Zato skrećem pogled visoko gore od stvari koje ne mogu promijeniti, na one koje mogu, jer nemam izbora.
And so, I am looking up. And I'm asking the fashion industry to look up. And now, I'm asking all of you to look up, too.
Zato gledam visoko gore. I tražim modnu industriju da to isto učini. Molim i sve vas, pogledajte gore.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)