Faduma’s Fellowship

Media relations support during London Fashion Week

Mum-of-two Faduma Farah suffered a near-fatal case of meningitis in 2011, causing her to be paralysed at 34 years old. Faduma’s Fellowship was founded in April 2021.

It can be very difficult for wheelchair users to find something appropriate to wear, as standard clothing can lead to discomfort or even actual physical harm. There are 1.2 million wheelchair users in the UK, and yet the availability of wheelchair user friendly fashion is often overlooked.

Faduma herself once had to be on bed rest for five weeks to recover from sores caused by an item of clothing. As a lover of fashion and vibrant colours, Faduma launched the Fellowship after becoming frustrated by the lack of suitable clothing.

The Fellowship aims to address the lack of choice for disabled people by sponsoring the creation of adaptive-wear collections. With support from Oxford Fashion Studio, the Fellowship provided an opportunity for a gifted designer, Harriet Eccleston, to collaborate with Faduma on creating and bringing to life a fashion collection with wheelchair users at its heart. With the launch of the new collection, Faduma’s Fellowship and Oxford Fashion Studio aimed to tackle the lack of visibility and discrimination faced by wheelchair users.

Be The Best Communications provided media relations support surrounding the launch of their first-ever adaptive-wear range, which was revealed during London Fashion Week 2021.

We secured a number of high-profile pieces of media coverage and interviews with Faduma. The story was broadcast nationally on ITV News at Ten, as well as a number of national publications including Metro and the i Newspaper.

We were pleased to be able to provide support on the launch of Faduma’s first collection and on such an important cause.