01 · Problem & pain point
After surgery, an ordinary t-shirt becomes an obstacle.
People recovering from surgery, injury, a stroke or long-term illness are often told to avoid reaching overhead, twisting, or putting pressure on an incision. Yet almost every garment in their wardrobe demands exactly that. Dressing turns into a daily ordeal that costs dignity, energy and independence.
- Pulling a top overhead strains healing shoulders, chests and surgical sites.
- Buttons and zips are impossible with one working hand or limited grip.
- Hospital gowns are undignified; normal clothes don't fit over casts, drains or braces.
- Many people end up depending on a carer for something as private as getting dressed.
02 · Opportunity statement
How might we help people in recovery dress themselves with independence and dignity — without straining a healing body?
This question guided every decision: not "how do we sell more clothes," but how we return a small, daily piece of independence to someone who has lost a lot of it.
03 · The idea
Adaptive apparel that opens to the body, instead of asking the body to fold into it.
A full range designed around access points — side snaps, magnetic closures, full-open backs, drain pockets and wrap fronts — in soft, dignified fabrics that look like clothes you'd choose, not medical wear you'd tolerate.
No overhead reach
Wraps and snaps on instead of pulling over the head.
One-handed closures
Magnets and snaps replace fiddly buttons and zips.
Room for medical needs
Drain pockets, brace access and sleeves that clear lines.
Designed to feel human
Warm, editorial fabrics — dignity, not "medical."
04 · Prototype & user testing
A working prototype — this site — with an AI concierge and real user feedback.
The prototype is a shoppable range of 30 adaptive pieces, organised by the part of the body that's healing, and a guided concierge named Ray who helps people (and their carers) find the right garment without medical guesswork. It was tested with recovery patients, carers and an occupational therapist — see their responses further down.
