Multi-Award-Winning UNIQLO Service Improves Lives of PWD in Korea
Multi-Award-Winning UNIQLO Service Improves Lives of PWD in Korea
Many people with disabilities (PWD) face frequent inconveniences in their daily lives due to conventional off-the-rack clothing not fitting their physical features or due to limited mobility, which can make it harder to put on and take off clothes. It is not only difficult for PWD to find suitable ready-to-wear clothes, but it also tends to be very expensive to reform their clothes by themselves.
The UNIQLO Korea Sustainability Team accepts the Award
of the Minister
of Health and Welfare
UNIQLO aims to make everyone’s life better through LifeWear. Realizing that PWD were facing difficulties in their everyday lives, UNIQLO’s sustainability team in South Korea launched the Clothes Reforming Service for People with Disability in partnership with the Korean Society for the Cerebral Palsied (KSCP) in 2019. The service provides a free one-on-one customized reforming service of UNIQLO clothes, taking into consideration each person’s physical condition and personal preferences after a thorough consultation with specialized tailors and counsellors. According to a survey taken in 2022, about 92% of the participants responded that the service had alleviated their everyday difficulties and reduced the time it takes to put on and take off clothes.
In October 2024, the Clothes Reforming Service for People with Disability was recognized with two sustainability awards in Korea. The first award was given by the Korea Public Design Awards, which aims to enhance the quality of people’s lives by recognizing desirable public design practices. Under this year’s theme of ‘Embracement: Transition for All’, UNIQLO’s clothes reforming service was acknowledged for its inclusive designs and received the Excellence Award. The second prize was the Award of the Minister of Health and Welfare, presented at the Festival for People with Disabilities held by the KSCP. The reform service received the award on account of improving the quality of life for people with cerebral palsy. UNIQLO was the only award winner from the private sector this year.
Examples of how clothes can be reformed
to meet various individual needs
An award ceremony for the Award of the Minister of Health and Welfare was held on October 24. At the ceremony, a member of the UNIQLO Korea Sustainability Team said, “We are honored to receive such meaningful awards. UNIQLO in Korea will continue to strengthen the right of PWD to wear the clothes they want to wear as well as making daily life more convenient for them.”
As of September 2024, the service supported about 3,800 people with disabilities and provided them with approximately 16,000 items of clothing. As UNIQLO’s foremost social contribution initiative in Korea, the brand will continue to improve the lives of PWD through this clothing reform service.