Channel 7 WKBW News Story: New clothing brand ‘Aille’ proving fashion is more than what you see

VIA staff wearing an aille design shirt.
Jordan Bursie wears a shirt saying “Diversity includes disability”

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — When we’re window shopping, it’s all about what you see, but diving deeper, fashion is so much more. It’s about texture, material, meaning and for one new local brand, accessibility.

“We’re trying to build a platform to truly bring accessibility into fashion at the mainstream level,” said Alexa Jovanovic, founder of Aille design.

Aille (pronounced like eye) comes from the French verb ‘aller’ which means “to move forward”. Jovanovic believes inclusivity is the direction the fashion industry needs to move forward in. It all started as a research project.

“I kind of had this aha! moment. Why couldn’t we arrange all of these beads ever so slightly to make a beautiful jacket that had empowering messages,” Jovanovic asked herself.

You can find messages like, “fashion is for everyone” and “diversity includes disability” written in braille on her clothing. Designed with help from members of the visually impaired community.

“You may see it in restaurants or some signs, but you probably don’t know what it is, so when you see it on a shirt, it’s like, ‘hey what’s that,'” said Jordan Bursie, who lost his vision to glaucoma at age 19.

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