Changing the narrative around accessible fashion, with Maura Horton - Episode 3

MH 0:00

One product line isn't going to be enough. It's got to be permeated throughout your accessibility, whether it's your website being accessible, your social media being accessible, your video content, the way you speak about the product. There's just so much, it's so broad. It scares some companies but the companies that want to tackle it and and that will tackle it, I think are going to be much further ahead in the game.

TS 0:28

Welcome to Made For Us, a podcast about the intersection of innovation and inclusion. It's for anyone who's curious about how to develop products that work better for all of us. I'm your host, Tosin Sulaiman, a podcaster and former business journalist. Each week I'll be speaking to entrepreneurs and leaders from some of the world's most inclusive businesses, who will be sharing the how, the what and the why of inclusive design. My guest today is Maura Horton, a pioneer in adaptive fashion. More is the CEO and founder of MagnaReady, a company that provides adaptive apparel for people with limited dexterity, more worried about the concept of MagnaReady after her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and struggle to button his shirts. Her solution was a magnetic closure system that she eventually patented. In the interview more talks about how she licensed the technology to some of the world's biggest shirt manufacturers, and how she's now advising companies on designing for accessibility. Here's Maura talking about how it all began.

MH 1:22

My name is Maura Horton and I am the founder of MagnaReady, which was a magnetic technology that was infused in clothing. Started in men's apparel first. And I started that out of a basic necessity. My husband was diagnosed at the age of 48, with early onset Parkinson's disease, and one of the side effects of Parkinson's is limited mobility and dexterity. He was starting to have issues getting dressed independently and buttoning buttons. And one day, he found himself trapped in a locker room, unable to get dressed, to catch a team playing he by trade was a career college football coach and had to have a player go over and help him get dressed in silence. So he came home and told me that he was having difficulty with the task that many of us take for granted. It didn't sit well with me. So I went to work and started to think of different solutions. And when I didn't see any in the market, that's what really alarmed me. And yeah, so long story short, I patented and created this technology in twenty thirteen is when it launched. So I was definitely one of the first pioneers in adaptive fashion. And since then just have been trying to grow the area, grow the awareness, grow the education, help businesses get into this.

TS 2:47

Thank you. And there's lots to dig into there. So as you mentioned, you're a pioneer in adaptive fashion. And I just wanted to go back to sort of how it all started. And even before what was life like before MagnaReady, I understand that you had started a children's clothing business before. Just curious to hear a bit more about that.

MH 3:06

Yeah, it was the best teaching I've ever had, I started my own private label, kids clothing business, if you will, it was really kind of a niche market. It was for girls, and it was party dresses, if you will. And I learned a lot from that, I learned that segmentation of market size, segmentation of people looking for this type of particular type of apparel. And I really saw how limited my market was, I wouldn't say it didn't fail, but it wasn't hugely successful either. But I learned a lot about that. And I really wasn't going to start a business to be honest with you, MagnaReady wasn't something I was going to start. But after I started doing my research and due diligence and seeing how many people really it would help or assist in getting dressed, it was overwhelming that I wanted to do it. My husband had Parkinson's and I thought at the time, 1 million was pretty large population size to serve that market. But then quickly saw that the amount of people that have for example, arthritis, it's was 52 million at that time, just how wide the audience was and how much of a necessity products that are designed to be stress free or to be assistive in some way or really needed in the marketplace.

TS 4:27

You've talked about how the idea was inspired by your husband's experienced with Parkinson's. I was just wondering when he first received the diagnosis. What was the impact on him on the family?

MH 4:38

Yeah, great question. Again. He was a career college football coach. I know you're not in the United States, but that's not soccer here. That's traditional football. So initially upon diagnosis, we thought we were going to be one of the very few that beat the odds he was going to keep on moving. We weren't going to when it came pushed to shove we would fight as much as needed and that somehow We thought we would prevail. Unfortunately, a progressive neurological disorder is not something that we could prevail against, but you know, stayed moving that whole time. So it made our family much closer, it did make our family a little bit more quiet, to be honest with you, because he was an external person out in the public became a little bit more quiet about who we were and what we were doing, because we really didn't want to draw a lot of attention to maybe some of the imbalances he was having. In hindsight, you know, it was probably a little bit of a regret. But that's how we dealt with it at that time. So our family just got a lot tighter. And we remain that way today.

TS 5:41

And you mentioned that you had looked for other solutions before you started MagnaReady. What else did you come up with? What did you find?

MH 5:51

What I found was scary. If I'm being quite honest. We found velcro shirts immediately. And I actually overnighted some because I knew it'd be traveling the very next weekend. But what I saw first, visually from an aesthetic side, when I was trying to order was a life and humans we weren't which was sad, depressed, unable, the representation was just not who we were. And then when I received the product, it was even worse, because the product was so subpar. What I saw was alarming to me as a caregiver, as someone if I put myself in those shoes, would I want to be in that position? And we weren't ready to be that?

TS 6:34

Why do you think the market was in such a state? Why do you think that so few companies were focusing on this?

MH 6:40

Yeah, it's still in that state. There's a few companies that have stepped up. And I'm super proud to be helping some of those companies grow to a level where they can have better representation. I think it's an evergreen item, where it's always been an afterthought. It's not something that people have put representation behind. I think the call to action hasn't been as great as it is currently, in today's climate. I think people weren't as loud about asking for products that solve solutions. I think that many people are were at that time maybe embarrassed about a situation or a need for a product. And that's why the Ask hadn't been there. I think there's a plethora behind it. But I do think that that is changing. Not at the rate I thought it would be in since twenty thirteen. Because I'm you know, ten years in now. And I would have thought that it's much further along. But we're not. So we have to continue to work every day.

TS 7:43

So you knew the problem that you wanted to solve? How did you come up with the actual invention? And how long did that process take?

MH 7:51

Yeah, I actually started in two thousand and nine the invention because I knew I was going to be patenting it, it took some time, I was also only doing it really part time because we did have two small children. But what happened part of it was I was in Target of all places, and I had noticed iPad covers were out on the market. And the way they clicked together on the iPad cover was just truly small magnets that I thought immediately, why wouldn't I drop that into his garment and see if it could close. So I did. And it worked. But then we washed it and it corroded. So I guess magnets generally don't wash. So we had to then go back to the drawing board and try to find and create a washable type of magnet that could sustain laundry. And to be quite honest, I was really naive. I launched with one shirt and two colorways. And so that process was now looking back again, seems very amateurish, but I needed a proof of concept. And I was glad that we had that within a few months of launching. But yeah, that's how it started. And I would say I sold my company at the close of twenty nineteen. And at that time, I sold four patents because I just kept expanding upon it. So yeah, so I'm super proud of the progress behind the scenes that a lot of people don't see or know about. But yeah, it was quite a process.

TS 9:19

Can you talk a little bit about why magnets are a good solution for adaptive clothing?

MH 9:26

Yeah, you know, they're not for everyone. I have to say, first and foremost people that have pacemakers. We do have to be super cautious about that process. There is in the United States an answer to that. I have worked with and spoken to many of the pacemaker companies and in a few years it won't be an issue at all. But why magnets were great work for my husband was because he had limited mobility and dexterity. So when we tried velcro he still needed to be able to press two fingers together with enough force to close the shirt or close was whatever garment we were working on at that time. And he didn't always have that. So the other thing he liked about it, I have to say was just cooler technology. It was something that felt less stigmatizing. And it was just cool tech inside of apparel, that part was really great. So magnets aren't for everybody. But they do instantaneously bring two pieces of apparel or sides of a garment together and close in really don't have to do anything, you can just line them up, and then the force will be drawing to each other. So it was really it truly stress free, stress free dressing at that time.

TS: 10:40

And I understand the magnets are actually hidden. So it looks like a regular shirt with buttons. But the magnets are are behind.

MH: 10:47

Yeah, that's correct. It was important to me that he not feel any different than anyone else and anyone else. And from the outside, externally, it looked the same. He was a Brooks Brothers kind of guy. So he liked to dress really sharp and crisp. And so yeah, it was important that they be hidden. That's part of the patents as well.

TS: 11:08

And can you talk a bit about your original vision for the company? Because you said that you had done some research into other potential use cases? So when you first started the company, who was the target audience that you had in mind?

MH: 11:22

Yeah, I think the target audience was always anyone that had issues with buttons. You know, obviously, near and dear to my heart is Parkinson's because that's what my husband had, so that they were always super in my forefront and vision when I was trying to create, what does this look like from a visual perspective and models, etc. But I really wanted to be able to reach such a wider big customer base, I think the oldest customer on record was 103. And as he would say, I don't have anything wrong with me, my fingers just don't work. So my message really, and the way I would wanted to create it was just, I hate to say a world for all, because it's not really for everyone. But I wanted anyone that entered into this world to feel heard, visually felt that they could see themselves in some way. And dignified. So one of the best things I did and one thing I hope many companies can do is always put on ours to share your story because our company started with this our story and to please share why you came to MagnaReady and share your story. So it was an odd percentage, but it was a really high like 78% of people always shared their first time and what brought them there and their own personal story in their own personal journey. And that actually helped me to sustain the vision throughout the time, my husband passed away throughout that process. And I really didn't want to stay completely dedicated to it because it was emotional for us still. But I did want to create a legacy. And a lot of those comments truly helped me understand why we were doing it, it was a greater call to action and a greater, higher purpose to stay pushing this initiative.

TS: 13:14

And through this, you've reached so many people, do you have a sense of how many people have used MagnaReady products?

MH: 13:21

I would say millions at this point have. My gift during the holidays is always the emails after the holidays, because we are often a gift for people that may not know about us, but someone in their life is has found us and wants to give them a little sense of independence through a holiday or father's day or throughout a special anniversary. And I would say the holidays really bring me the biggest joy for people when they say what their loved one their first interaction was and how it made them feel.

TS: 13:57

Are there any particular stories that stick in your mind?

MH: 14:01

A lot of them are: the first time they put it on made them cry. You made their loved one cry, or some got Superman shirts to put underneath them because they were afraid their dad was going to flash people because it was so quick. So there's lots of them, I think, yeah, I've seen quite a bit of stories throughout the time, some military stories that are super great from vets, and some people that may have only stayed living for a month or so. But during that time they felt they were happy and proud to be able to do it themselves. So it's definitely a rewarding call to action. For me personally.

TS: 14:43

I wanted to ask what were some of the design challenges that you faced or even challenges in the manufacturing. You mentioned that you had started a children's clothing company before but I imagine that this was quite different.

MH: 14:55

This was really different. I sourced and produced here in the United States for my kids clothing line. But this we took overseas, the first iterations were difficult to make sure it was perfection the way it was sewn in because A, I want safety first. So I would never want a magnet to dislodge, to get in any harm's way, whether it be for a child or an adult. And then some of the other challenges was just trying to train the manufacturing facility on how to sew magnets in and what's the right side and what's the wrong side. And yes, they'll still close together if you've sewn a right side to a wrong side, but they won't be as strong. And so finding apps that they could do quality control testing with and yeah, ordering the quantity I needed and getting them into the United States. Those were all big challenges. And I knew early on that I had proof of concept. So for my proof of concept, I wanted to go to the the three largest shirt manufacturers in the world and see if they would become partners. And I was lucky that they wanted to be partners and so that we could grow the mission, the message and you know, the product vision. And that made some of the manufacturing challenges a little easier because they had the weight of a big company behind me.

TS: 16:16

So you mentioned that you partnered with the three biggest shirt manufacturers. Can you tell me a little bit about that? When did that partnership happen?

MH: 16:22

PVH was first. We partnered on both their private label for their dress shirt division. And then I partnered on the Tommy Hilfiger adaptive, it was actually myself who trained and taught them how to use the technology, you know, the wording, the manufacturing, how to do it all. So I know that story is not generally told for some reason. But I think Gamut management or Runway of Dreams always takes full credit of that. But I was the one that actually got all that going from a technical side and a representation side. And then then I started working with LF Americas or Global Brands Group as well, who produce quite a bit of goods for the US. And currently, it's still being we're still producing for Land's End school uniforms, Duluth Trading, JC Penney's uses us private label. So yeah, it continues to grow and expand. And then that part's great.

TS: 17:19

And then you sold the company in 2019. Is that correct? If you could just fill us in on what's happened since that sale. So I know that Global Brands Group has has now morphed into another company, but could you talk about...

MH: 17:33

so during COVID global brands group did not make it out and MagnaReady, and all its technology, apparel, everything was acquired by David Peyser Sportswear. It's running on independently and very successfully. So within that, I have also started consulting throughout that process for other companies. So QVC just launched an adaptive apparel line, and a whole adaptive way you shop, whether it's from apparel, living, etc, just launched and so that, yeah, so helping companies come up to speed on marrying the business end with the product, because that's what's going to make it successful. I feel like some companies may just use it for a checkbox or storytelling, but there is a way to marry the business case, successful business transactions and the representation altogether. And that's kind of my sweet spot right now.

TS: 18:32

And what's been the reception from the businesses that you're talking to you?

MH: 18:34

Yeah, you know, the great thing is the businesses that I've been working with, want to get it right, they want to do it right, or they wouldn't be contacting consultants. I like to be behind the wings and, you know, kind of be the quiet person behind the wings, making it all work together. QVC, we have the first time an accessibility Ambassador Selma Blair, which is super exciting, because I think we have to match the representation with the business end, I think it's going really well, I think it's just stuff we have to keep growing on. And you know, one product line isn't going to be enough. It's got to be permeated throughout your accessibility, whether it's your website being accessible, your social media being accessible, your video content, the way you speak about the product, the way you speak to the customer , emails, there's just so much it's so broad. It scares some companies, but the companies that want to tackle it and will tackle it, I think are going to be much further ahead in the game.

TS: 19:34

And what do you think those companies have in common? does it tend to be the larger companies that are trying their best to get it right? Or is it not anything to do with size? Is it something else?

MH: 19:45

Yeah, you know, what I really think it is. It's the people within those companies that want to do it. They're the driving force behind all the initiatives. It's something that they want to do they want to take it on. So whether it's through an employee resource group or through a senior vice president, you know, at JC Penney's, I believe it was a senior vice president who had a child with disabilities and they, they want to tackle it. And so I think it's people in power and in a position to effect change, and that are brave enough to do it. So those are my kind of people.

TS: 20:20

I was also curious about what your growth has been like, over the past 10 years, you did talk about this market that's sort of been largely neglected.

MH: 20:27

The truth is, we can hardly keep inventory in stock. To be quite honest with you, it's a challenge to keep it because once somebody buys one, they generally like to buy multiples, if they know it's going to work for them. And so they don't want to buy the same shirt three times over. So we constantly have to replenish, just fabrications alone. So you know, our growth has been incredible. And I think, you know, we still have a far way to grow. We started with one shirt and two colors. And quickly the questions were, When are your pants coming? pants were a necessity, for sure. And we did launch pants and denim, etc. And then we started a women's line, which, you know, in all honesty hasn't been as successful because women have so many other options here, whereas a man needs to go to an event, he needs a shirt and pants, women can have, you know, pullover shirts or so dresses etc. So the women's line is still developing and hasn't been as successful as the men's. But we did that. When I was launching MagnaReady for men's I also launched a sister company called Magna Mini, which was kids, kids clothing, mainly outerwear jackets. But that was more of a fun technology just kind of whimsical, because I had, again, the my two daughters were kind of the muses for that. So yeah, we've grown from all products, all categories, I think at this point. And now we're just trying to hone in and make sure we know what's the most successful to our DNA. We were the first adaptive company inside a retailer store. And that didn't work to be honest with you. Because if I do my job very good as an adaptive designer, you can't see the difference from the outside on the inside. And so people didn't know sitting in a brick and mortar store on a four way, well, why is your shirt different, and you can't tell the story in a brick and mortar store. So we did much better, we'd still do much better online than we do in brick and mortar store. It was my initial goal, like oh, I've got to be in stores, this will be the right distribution. And you just can't tell the story in a in a store unfortunately.

TS: 22:48

And since you started, the adaptive clothing market has grown, I think one report puts it at between 300 and $400 billion in terms of the size. So what for you have been the big developments in that space that you couldn't have imagined 10 years ago?

MH: 23:02

I think that the big development lately is just that larger retailers want to develop a whole system around it and support it from all angles. Because it's not just one touch point of dressing. Dressing is super important. I've also witnessed my husband go through and I call it an arc of life, right? That's how I term it. So whether you're born on the the on your arc of life with a disability, you inherit it midway through, you're on it for a short period of time, and you're off of it because you had shoulder surgery or some type of post surgery recovery, or you're with it through the end, it's super hard throughout that arc, there's so many products that you actually need, and some of the better products that are needed and need better development to are needed on the the later part of that arc of life. And so I think companies are realizing that they want to make sure they are offering products and solutions to wherever you are in the arc. That's been the biggest new change for me is that the companies want to dive in and tackle that from not just a dressing perspective, because when you've seen someone go through the arc of life, you know, the dignity throughout it is, at some point dressing is important but at certain parts of the arc, it's not the most important piece.

TS: 24:26

And at the same time, you did say that things haven't progressed as quickly as you would have liked them to over the past 10 years. So what are the some of the changes that you would like to see?

MH: 24:36

I'd love to see companies stop using it as a checkbox. You know, I think it's highly disruptive to use it as a checkbox and use it as just a marketing tool. I think that's highly ineffective and actually hurts the whole mission in the long run. I think that larger companies and corporations have a call to action to to take this on but to take it on wholeheartedly. Representation is a piece. So for the marketing, I understand it. But if you're not creating products that are solution based during that process, it seems inauthentic to me.

TS: 25:12

So do you think that there are some brands that still see this as niche?

MH: 25:16

Definitely, I'm on lots of calls where people think, Oh, it's just such a small percentage. And so I'm trying to widen the scope. Personally, I'm trying to stop calling it adaptive, because I think that is harmful - harmful to the whole mission of solution based products that could have great technology, etc. So my mission personally, is to make sure it's starting to be called accessible, and accessible products. And there, you know, there was a mission a while ago that it was design for all and in theory, that sounds great, but it's not really actually doable. We try, that might be the gold standard, but at the end of the day, you may not get a product that is really designed for all. So I really just like to say we're designing for accessibility. And if we are all designing for accessibility touchpoints whether that's your website, your emails, social media or products, we hope to include as many people as possible.

TS: 26:20

So looking ahead to say another five, ten years, what are your hopes for MagnaReady?

MH: 26:25

I hope it continues to grow and just be infused in everyday brands that can offer solutions. Yeah, I hope as a mission and a message, it's, it's less stigmatizing. I hope that people don't have to have a hard time finding this type of product, you know, when I was starting to find it, and still to this day, it's like, what do you Google? Like, what do you look up and some of the terminology that you look up to find apparel or other products is, is really not terms we even want to be using nowadays, such as handicapped, right? It's a negative word. I don't want to use it. But that's actually the number one searchable term on Google is handicap apparel. So, you know, by educating and calling it accessible apparel, I think it will help change some of the behind the scenes. So obviously, you know, I want MagnaReady to sustain and keep going, but my real mission is to kind of change the narrative behind it.

TS: 27:28

Thank you very much. How can people follow your work

MH: 27:31

Our website or is MagnaReady. WWW dot MagnaReady.com. Or you can follow some of my work as well at qvc.com. Social channels is MagnaReady on Instagram, as well on Twitter. So, again, I'm a behind the scenes kind of person. So probably on LinkedIn, you can find more about me than anywhere else. But I, I don't like to, you know, I'm just a small piece in this. I like to have those with disabilities shine a little brighter than than myself because that's just not what I'm here for. So thank you for the opportunity, but I'd rather someone followed ten people with disabilities than me.

TS: 28:12

Are there any people that you'd want to recommend that they should follow?

MH: 28:16

Yeah, follow Keely Cat-Wells, Andraea LaVant, follow Wheelchair Barbie, follow anyone that speaks to you from a disability perspective. I'm here to help other people shine. I'm not in it for for my ego at all.

TS: 28:32

Thanks to Maura Horton for sharing the story of MagnaReady. You can find links to learn more in the show notes. If you liked this episode of Made For Us, don't forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts. You can also join the conversation on LinkedIn and Instagram @madeforuspodcast. I'm Tosin Sulaiman and I'll be back with another episode next week.

MH: 28:50

Oh, a book and a song. Well oddly enough I like Post Malone. Am I allowed to say that? Most people...(laughter)

Yeah, I like Post Malone and I think he had a new album drop. So I've been listening to that and I just reserved a book called Heartburn by I believe Nora Ephron and I need a little escapism. So I think that's the book I'll be reading.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai