Case Study by Sam Angell
When Someone Sees Your Story So Clearly
Every now and then, someone gives you the unexpected gift of seeing your own journey through their eyes.
Earlier this year, I was contacted by a lovely student, graphic designer and writer, Sam Angell, who was completing a Graduate Certificate of Design. Sam had chosen me as the subject of an assessment exploring the life, work and creative practice of a designer.
As part of their research, Sam interviewed me about my journey, from my early love of fashion and career in law to the catastrophic car accident that left me a quadriplegic, and eventually my work as an artist, adaptive fashion designer and disability advocate.
I knew Sam was preparing an assignment, but I had no idea of the depth, thoughtfulness and care they would bring to it. When I saw the finished case study, I was truly blown away.
Sam created an extraordinarily detailed account of my life and work, including a timeline spanning my childhood in Ireland, my legal career, spinal cord injury, return to art and the milestones that eventually led me to designing and opening a runway event for Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival in Brisbane in 2019 and letting loose at Afterpay's Australian Fashion Week Sydney in 2022.
It was not simply the depth of their research that touched me. It was how clearly they understood why this work matters.
Sam recognised that adaptive fashion is about far more than modifying a garment. It is about identity, dignity, confidence, visibility and belonging. Clothing affects our core sense of identity, our confidence, our right to self expression but most importantly clothing directly impacts the way the outside world perceives and consistently underestimates a person with disability.
Sam understood my belief that adaptive clothing should not be hidden away as a medical or specialist product. It should be recognised as another category of mainstream fashion, available alongside the same beautiful clothing enjoyed by everyone else.
Sam also explored the role lived experience plays in my design process and understood that every detail has a purpose.
What moved me most was their personal reflection at the conclusion of the case study. Sam wrote about the power of design either to welcome people in or exclude them. They viewed inclusive design not as a niche consideration, but as a fundamental measure of whether design is doing its job properly.
To know that my work had encouraged another designer to think so deeply about accessibility, humanity and the kind of career they want to build was incredibly meaningful.
Sam later sent me the most beautiful email to tell me that they had received 95 per cent for the assessment, the highest result they had ever achieved throughout high school, their undergraduate degree and their Graduate Certificate of Design.
Sam’s unit coordinator particularly praised the way they incorporated our interview as a primary source alongside their broader research. I was deeply touched.
Sam approached the assignment with intelligence, empathy and enormous dedication. They did not simply document the visible milestones. They took the time to understand the experiences, values and purpose behind them.
When you have lived through a journey yourself, you can become so focused on taking the next step that you rarely stop to look at the entire path behind you. Sam’s case study gave me the opportunity to do that.
It reminded me of the barriers we have challenged, how far adaptive fashion has travelled and why there is still so much more work to be done.
Thank you, Sam, for choosing me as your subject, treating my story with such care and creating something that touched me more deeply than you could possibly have known.
Congratulations on your extraordinary result. It was richly deserved.
You can view Sam Angell’s complete case study here:
https://www.samangell.com/case-study
You can also learn more about Sam and explore their work through their websites: