Blind designer proves fashion is limitless

NEW YORK -- Fearless and fierce, Natalie Trevonne is a force blowing away the typical convention of style.

As a designer, model, vlogger and influencer she's proving that fashion has no limits. As a young blind woman, she's proving that hard work and a strong vision can change everything.

Trevonne was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when she was 1-year old. The chronic illness started impacting her vision at age 11. By the time she graduated high school, she had full vision loss and started to adapt to her new life. Although the transition was a challenge, (especially starting college) she found something that connected her with new friends.

"One thing that helped me meet new people is fashion. But I didn't think that could be a job for me. I didn't see anybody with a disability. Let alone someone who was blind, designing clothes or working in the fashion industry." Trevonne said.

Trevonne was consistently getting a lot of questions about how to dress as a blind person. That's when she decided to become a content creator to show others how she styles herself, without being able to see her clothing.

"So, I did a video called fashion in the dark, and during the pandemic I started a podcast with my best friend trying to bridge the gap between fashion and disability."

As Trevonne's popularity grew, companies reached out to her to learn how to make their brands more accessible to the disability community. Soon Ernest Spicer contacted her on Linkedin and offered to partner with her to create a fashion design in the Metaverse. That idea turned into an NFT wedding dress and a standing collaboration with Spicer.

"I did not see a lot of disabled brides... I was like, 'Maybe we should make a wedding dress.' Even though it was just an NFT, I wanted to make that sure people knew that it was a Natalie Trevonne design."

With that goal in mind, Trevonne focused on texture for the NFT gown.

"We played with a lot of lace and sheer material."

When designing her NFT gown, she focused on her mission while also acknowledging the disparity of Black women in the fashion industry.

"I was like, you can do anything that you want to do. Don't let anybody ever tell you that as a young Black woman you can't achieve you goals. It was not only disability representation, but it was me as a Black woman coming into a space that was a boys club, and a white boys club at that."

After being invited to Meta Fashion Week, Essence and Vogue Business picked up her story.

"It was just like a wow moment for me."

When it was time for their next move, Trevonne and Spicer decided to forge ahead with creating physical clothing designs. She named her fashion brand Not Your Inspiration to move past the stereotype that disabled people are inspirational just for existing. But that does not mean she's opposed to being a strong role model for anyone reaching for their dreams.

"People with disabilities are not here to be your inspiration and we're not your indicator of success. So I think Not Your Inspiration is us taking that word back."

Not Your Inspiration's designs are texture focused and created for disabled and non-disabled clientele. Various textiles like leather, lace and chains allow for blind and low-vision customers to identify their wardrobe by the feel of the fabric.

In spring 2023, Trevonne walked in the "Not My Eyes" all blind runway show in Queens, New York. Created by Annalee Bowen Smith, the fashion event featured blind and low-vision models. It also connected designers to a vastly underserved community. Trevonne says her dream is to start an explosion of disabled creators in fashion.

"I'm hoping to motivate and encourage other designers with disabilities to really go for it and not let how exclusionary fashion has been stop us from really doing it big! We're stylists now. We're designers now. Like we're here, and we're not going anywhere."