Runway of Dreams: Making Clothing Accessible to All with Mindy Scheier

February 8, 2021

Thanks to Mindy Scheier, the world is becoming more accessible to people with disabilities. During her 20 years in the fashion industry, it never occurred to Mindy (or her peers) that there was a huge demographic of people missing out on having clothes made with their needs in mind. Like many Lift U Up: Inspiring Health Stories guests, it took a life-changing event for Mindy to find her new passion. Mindy had her “ah-ha” moment when her 8-year-old son (who was born with Muscular Dystrophy) wanted to dress like everyone else, despite his disability.

For Mindy, getting dressed has always been a highlight of her daily routine. She applied her love of clothing to her fashion career, where she spent two decades working on design teams and as a stylist.

Another huge part of her life? Her family. Mindy was blessed with a son named Oliver, who has Muscular Dystrophy. Oliver and his family faced many challenges due to his disability, and getting dressed was one of them. Mindy relied on dressing Oliver in sweatpants, but he wanted to have the option to dress like everyone else at school, and wear jeans, like his friends.

In this moment Mindy’s son reminded her of the power of clothing – confidence, independence, expression.

At first, Mindy granted her son’s request by using her fashion knowledge and “arts and crafting” a solution just for him. It made her think, how are other individuals with disabilities handling this? There was a hole in the market, so in 2014 Mindy set out to make the fashion industry more inclusive. Runway of Dreams was created to take Mindy’s modifications and incorporate them into mainstream fashion. Since it was founded, they have worked with brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Kohl’s, Target, Zappos, and more.

With more than one-billion people with disabilities on our planet, Mindy looks forward to educating the next generation of designers and making inclusivity in clothing the new norm.

Mentioned in this episode: Watch our Interview with Haley Moss.

What else can you expect in this episode?

How getting dressed is important to everyone, and how it is can help your mood in Quarantine.
Mindy’s experience working with bigger brands and how she commends the industry’s collaboration.
What’s different about this minority group and how disabilities can impact anyone, at any time.
Information on their upcoming Adaptive Fashion Show coming to Miami on March 9th.
How clothing connects to jobs, and why that matters to adults with disabilities.
Mindy’s second company, Gamut Management, and what she is doing to open doors for individuals with disabilities in the entertainment world.