Skip to main content
BoF Logo

The Business of Fashion

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

Sinéad Burke on Making Change a Movement, Not a Moment

The writer and disability advocate advises how the fashion industry can uproot ableism and redesign what accessibility looks like.
Sinéad Burke, BoF VOICES 2021

The author has shared a YouTube video.

You will need to accept and consent to the use of cookies and similar technologies by our third-party partners (including: YouTube, Instagram or Twitter), in order to view embedded content in this article and others you may visit in future.

The author has shared a Podcast.You will need to accept and consent to the use of cookies and similar technologies by our third-party partners (including: YouTube, Instagram or Twitter), in order to view embedded content in this article and others you may visit in future.

To subscribe to the BoF Podcast, please follow this link.

Four years ago, writer and activist Sinéad Burke made her debut at BoF VOICES, when she implored the fashion community to start designing for disability, noting that the global spending power of disabled people is more than $1.9 trillion.

Following a series of high-profile appearances after VOICES 2017 — from Davos to the Met Gala — Burke has been honing her sense of mission and purpose, and has come to the conclusion that creating products for disabled people is not enough.

In her return to the BoF VOICES stage in 2021, she said: “If change is only embedded in the present, change will be a moment, not a movement.”

ADVERTISEMENT

On the latest episode of The BoF Podcast, Burke lays out a path for removing abelism from our society. Systemic change, she said, has to happen based around four pillars: people, places, product and promotions, and be jump-started with awareness, allyship and advocacy. In short this means “nothing about us, without us.”

This podcast is made in partnership with Shopify.

Further Reading

VOICES 2021: Live Your Best Life

In the fifth and final session of BoF’s annual gathering, Vanessa Kingori, Jay Shetty, Sinéad Burke, Christian Louboutin and others spoke about finding personal fulfillment in the face of adversity.

In This Article

© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions

More from Workplace & Talent
Analysis and advice on the future of work, careers and management.

The Best Jobs on BoF Careers

Discover the most exciting career opportunities now available on BoF Careers — including jobs from Tapestry, Ugg and Nanushka.


Amid Black Beauty Brand Closures, Glossier Ups Financial Support

Two of the brand's previous grantees — The Established and Ceylon — which each received a $50,000 infusion from Glossier just years ago, have closed their businesses due to a rough financial climate. With fresh injections of capital, the beauty label is hoping it can help others avoid the same fate.


view more

Subscribe to the BoF Daily Digest

The essential daily round-up of fashion news, analysis, and breaking news alerts.

The Business of Fashion

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
CONNECT WITH US ON
The Business of Beauty Global Forum
© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and Accessibility Statement.
The Business of Beauty Global Forum