Nashville-based lifestyle influencer April Lockhart proudly identifies as a "fashion girlie." She finds shopping and styling "therapeutic" and has built an audience of more than 140,000 followers by sharing clips of her colorful outfits on Instagram and TikTok. Lockhart was also born with a limb difference, and fully expressing her personal style sometimes comes with compromises.
"Seeing myself in those spheres was always missing," Lockhart tells Marie Claire. The brands she aspired to shop didn't reflect her identity back at her in advertising or required extra tailoring to be wearable. Adaptive fashion, or items designed specifically for people with disabilities, didn't offer a viable solution for someone who says she prioritizes aesthetics over function. "I never shopped adaptive, because style always came first, and if we’re honest, adaptive style has consistently fallen flat," she says.
