Egyptian designer tailors clothing brand for people with disabilities

FILE PHOTO: Egyptian designers Kholoud Emad El Miligy and Ashgan Ragab Alabhar (R), founder and marketing manager of 180 Degree company, smile after showcasing a new clothing brand for people with disabilities and short stature in Cairo, Egypt October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

When Ashgan al-Abhar's wheelchair-using friend said she dreamed of wearing a dress that did not obstruct her mobility, she decided to launch a clothing brand for people with disabilities and those of short stature.

Earlier this year she started "Metfasal Leek" - Arabic for "Tailored for you" - a clothing line that she says is the first of its kind in Egypt.

Al-Abhar, 43, said after working with various companies on ways to cater for people with disabilities, she had noticed that they were not being served by clothing manufacturers.

Dina Elbendary, an Egyptian model, listens to Manar Masoud after showing a new clothing brand for people with disabilities and short stature at Kmt House in Cairo, Egypt October 14, 2020. Picture taken October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

"People with short stature would struggle to find their sizes in the market," she said.

She is using volunteers to test the clothes, giving them free samples, ahead of a planned commercial launch.

One volunteer, Ziad Hamdy, struggles with a disability that prevents him from using his hands and fingers easily.

Dina Elbendary, an Egyptian model with disabilities shows a new clothing brand at Kmt House in Cairo, Egypt October 14, 2020. Picture taken October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

"I couldn't button up my shirt, buckle my trousers," he said. Hamdy now has hook-and-loop fasteners instead of buttons, which he says save him a lot of time and effort.

Al-Abhar hopes the initiative will help change views about people with disabilities and persuade the public "to stop associating them with charity".

"It makes us feel we are like everyone else," said volunteer Hanan Fouad.

FILE PHOTO: Manar Masoud, an Egyptian model, smiles wearing new clothes from the 180 Degree brand at Kmt House in Cairo, Egypt October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

(Reporting by Mohamed Zaki; Writing by Nadeen Ebrahim; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Egyptian model Ziad Hamdy gets measured for a new clothing brand for people with disabilities at Kmt House in Cairo, Egypt October 14, 2020. Picture taken October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

FILE PHOTO: Egyptian designer Ashgan Ragab Alabhar (back-C), founder and marketing manager of 180 Degree Company, poses for a photograph with her team and models after showcasing a new clothing brand for people with disabilities and short stature in Cairo, Egypt October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

FILE PHOTO: Zainab Elsayed, an Egyptian model, applies makeup during a display of a new clothing brand for people with disabilities and short stature in Cairo, Egypt October 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh