Parsons Disabled
Fashion Student
Program
Image Description: Left image: A slender African American model is standing in a Manhattan street on a rock wearing sculptural wearable over her white skirt and crop top. The piece around her neck is asymmetrical and very sculptural with scalloped wool pleats dynamically moving in different directions. The piece is very structured but soft to touch. She drapes a wool scarf on each of her hands. Both scarfs are also made of undyed wool and have a dimension to them and are moving with the wind. Photo by Aida Sullova and design by Sugandha Gupta. Right image: A curly haired slim woman in black dress touching a large tactile piece on the wall with a multitude of textures. She appears to be touching with a very gentle touch. Photo by SCAD Photography and design by Sugandha Gupta.
Launched in 2023, The Parsons Disabled Fashion Student Program
is a scholarship and mentorship initiative created by Parsons School of Design and Tilting the Lens to support Disabled* students who want to study fashion and shape the future of the industry.
The program provides tailored financial assistance for tuition, living expenses, and/or access costs, alongside industry mentorship and a peer-to-peer community. These supports help make studying fashion at Parsons more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable for Disabled students.
*We capitalize “Disabled" to acknowledge the community’s shared identity and reflect our commitment to advocate alongside this community for rights and equality.
What makes this program different
Image Description: A group photo of 22 models ranging from 8 years old to 67 years old wearing ten different youth designer’s work in brightly colored stretch fabrics pose together in a group shot after the Queer Radical Fair Fashion Performances in Ping Tom Park in Chicago.
We have a deep appreciation for the Disability lens and the rich contributions this community brings to fashion as an art, design, and creative practice.
We recognize that the fashion industry has long been an inaccessible environment for Disabled people and has excluded them from meaningful opportunities and recognition as designers, professionals, and leaders.
Our commitment is to actively remove barriers to fashion education and careers, and to help build an industry where Disabled creativity, leadership, and expertise are the foundation. By supporting Disabled students and their dreams, we aim to contribute to a more just, innovative, and expansive future for fashion.
The program is open to domestic and international students who identify as Disabled and/or Neurodivergent and are interested in studying fashion design in Parsons’ BFA Fashion Design or MFA Fashion Design & Society programs.
“My lived experiences have fueled my practice both as a creative person and an educator.”
Sugandha Gupta, Mentor, Assistant Professor of Fashion Design & Social Justice at Parsons School of Design
Image Description: Sugandha Gupta is a white appearing Indian woman with Albinism. She has short blond hair and she is wearing an undyed soft woolen scarf and a floral blue blouse. She is wearing red lipstick and black eyeliner.
We exist for Disabled designers, artists, and creatives
to have access to fashion education and the opportunity to enter an industry that has been exclusionary.
Image Description: Andraéa LaVant, a Black woman sitting in her power wheelchair in a park on a bright day. She is wearing her hair in a sleek bob, cat eye glasses, bright orange long eyelet gown and bright yellow handbag.
Program overview & benefits
We support students with tailored financial assistance, career mentorship, professional and community networks, and pathways into the fashion industry. We believe the creativity and leadership students bring to this program will help shape the future of fashion.
In partnership with Student Disability Services, we collaborate with students to understand their access needs and ensure individualized support throughout their studies..
This program is part of Parsons and The New School’s ongoing work to build a more inclusive community and to advance inclusive, disability-centered pedagogy.
LEARN FROM Disabled INDUSTRY LEADERS
“I hope that by imparting my knowledge to youth and supporting them in creating their own clothing lines, they will be able to fill in the gaps.”
Sky Cubacub, Mentor, Rebirth Garments creator
Fashion has always been an inherent part of Disability culture.
We believe that Disability brings a unique perspective to fashion and that Disabled people should be represented and lead in every aspect of the fashion industry.
We want to create a fashion curriculum and culture that honors Disability wisdom and where Disabled students can thrive.
Image Description: Sky Cubacub, a small tan Filipinx Xenogender person wearing their signature pink/multicolor scalemaille headpiece and handpiece and an all pink look including a ¾ turtleneck crop with a circular cut-out in the middle of the chest over a sheer bralette that also has cut outs with sheer cargo pants and metamaille chains on the hip with a plastic blue eye visor. They have pink grid graphic makeup with asymmetrical lips and spiky triangle under eye makeup. They are holding their zine: Radical Visibility: a QueerCrip Dress Reform Movement Manifesto open in one hand and tilting their visor in their other hand while sticking out their tongue. Cover photos on the zine by Grace DuVal of Sky, Alice Wong of the Disability Visibility Project and Nina Litoff.
We invite applications by March 16, 2026 for the Fall 2026 semester
Apply now for the Disabled Fashion Student Program.