The group of Australians that retailers pretend don’t exist

THEY make up 20 per cent of the Australian population, but when they walk into a shop, they feel invisible.

A WOMAN born with a condition that makes her skin red and itchy has criticised retailers for ignoring the disabled and treating them differently to other customers.

Carly Findlay says she knows what it’s like to be treated differently or feel excluded when doing something as simple as shopping for clothes.

She has a condition called ichthyosis, which means she was born with red scaly skin that can get very painful.

Carly is just one of the 20 per cent of Australians that have a disability and says many of them feel completely invisible in the eyes of retailers.

“We just want to be treated with the same dignity everyone else gets.

“I love fashion and so do lots of my friends but I feel like there isn’t much inclusion of people with disabilities,” Carly told news.com.au.

“We are a huge segment of the retail market but we aren’t represented anywhere.”

Carly is working to draw attention to the under representation of disabled Australians.

Ms Findlay said even getting into a store can be difficult and there are still a lot of shops where it is nearly impossible for people in wheelchairs or walkers to enter.

She said that even when they can get inside they are treated differently.

“When I go into a store I am ignored because they look at me and think I am not the type of person that would enjoy fashion,” she said.

“Obviously my accessibility needs are different to other people but I still experience the discrimination.”

In an effort to promote inclusion of the disabled community, Ms Findlay is running a Melbourne Fashion Week event called Access to Fashion.

The event will be comprised of a runway show featuring disabled models and a panel discussion emphasising the needs for diversity in the fashion industry.

Ngino Amum is one of the models that will be featured in Carly’s Access to Fashion event.

Ms Findlay recalled a recent incident where she was at a market and found a dress she wanted to try on. The shop keeper was serving another woman at the time so she waited her turn.

But Carly’s excitement over the dress quickly dissipated when the shop keeper turned to serve her.

“I didn’t get a ‘hello’ or ‘how are you’, instead the first thing she said was ‘Oh god, what happened to you?’,” Ms Findlay said.

She said it is fear of awful situations like this that force a lot of people in the disabled community to shop online.

Terri Rule will also be modelling in the show.

Cooper Smith, 13, will be among the 20 models walking in the fashion show.

Carly isn’t receiving any funding to put on the show, but it is very important to her that the models get paid for their time just like anyone else would.

A GoFundMe page was set up with a goal of $5000 to ensure this would be possible. Carly admitted she was worried that they wouldn’t reach their target, but the money was raised in just 12 days.

“We don’t get any financial support to do this, it’s all out of our own love,” she said.

“I want to make sure that the people participating are getting paid, and now they can be.”

Carly said there is no size, shape or age limit for people wanting to apply and they have already had dozens of applicants.

While the show is a great first step towards inclusion, the aim is for these specific shows to not be necessary and for disabled people to be included in mainstream fashion.

- The event will take place on September 1 in Melbourne and those interested in attending can buy tickets online.