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People with Disabilities Can Dress Themselves With Dignity and Independence
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the United States, over 19% of all non-institutionalized civilians have a disability. Additionally, over 25 million Americans have a severe disability that makes it impossible for them to perform one or more activities of daily living. UNDERCARE, a New York-based adaptive clothing startup, has developed and launched an innovative solution that makes putting on and taking off underwear easy for many people suffering from disabilities.
Undercare’s story begins in 2011, when Founder and CEO Susanne Shoemaker entered her local YMCA locker room and encountered several senior women struggling to dress after their swimming class. Many were using a grabby stick device to hold their underwear in the air as they guided their feet and legs through the leg-opening. Others didn’t use the unwieldy tool but instead relied on the assistance of a friend.
“There has to be an easier way for differently-abled people to get dressed,” Susanne thought.
The problem that Susanne identified was not the lack of care, patience, or determination these women had. The problem was their underwear. Standard underwear requires putting one’s feet and legs through a leg opening — a process which involves sitting down, balancing on one leg, or bending at the knee or hip. Such movements can be challenging, whether due to permanent or temporary mobility limitation.
Susanne recognized a need for adaptive underwear. Coming from a family of engineers and a higher education in fine art explains Susanne’s interest in taking action.
“I started trying to spatially figure out a better design. I began cutting and sewing underwear together to develop a prototype. I went to department stores and bought two pair of the same style, same size. I combined the two pair into one. Instead of putting on underwear one leg at a time, you simply wrap and fasten Undercare with soft and flexible hook and loop. We think of ourselves as the anti-Spanx. Rather than squeezing into your underwear, Undercare wraps you in a hug, kind of like putting on a bathrobe. Who says you need to put on your underwear the old-fashioned way?”
After deconstructing and redesigning the undergarment, Susanne looked for the best way to fasten the garment together. She found a Velcro Brand® product that is very soft and flexible with low pile and excellent pull strength. This is an outstanding feature of the product line. Many people think all Velcro® is thick and scratchy. The custom version Undercare uses is delicate (good for sensitive skin) yet durable, standing up to repeated washing. The material is easy to attach and peel apart, making it perfect for individuals with compromised fine motor ability in their hands.
In March of 2013, Susanne obtained her first patent for UNDERCARE. She has earned an additional three patents and has two pending. To assist her in building the company from the ground up, Susanne availed herself to all of the available entrepreneurial assistance in Westchester County, New York, where she lives. She worked with Element 46 Incubator, SCORE | Westchester, Women’s Enterprise Development Center, Small Business Development Center, IBM Mentorship Program and MasterCard Pro Bono Challenge. She has won numerous awards, including being a Top Ten Finalist in the SBA’s InnovateHer Competition in 2016. She was invited to the White House roundtable on “Women and Innovation.” In February 2018, she completed the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business Program.
Undercare aims to put an end to the daily struggle customers face when they get dressed. “Imagine how you would feel if each and every day started with the embarrassment of needing to rely on someone else to put on clean underwear? It’s like starting every morning two laps behind the rest of the world.” explained Shoemaker. Instead, Undercare adapts to their customers. “Our fashion inclusive product line aims to provide what is important: hygiene, comfort and a foundation for confidence through dignity, independence, and safety in self-dressing. For so many of our customers, this truly is life-changing.”
Release ID: 88948845