A Quantum Rehab power wheelchair is part of the new Women Dressing Women exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
In a Dec. 12 news announcement, Quantum said its Edge 3 power chair is included in the display of a Hillary Taymour bodysuit worn by model Aaron Rose Philip.
Philip, who has cerebral palsy, uses an Edge 3 power chair with iLevel seat elevation. Quantum said in the announcement that for the exhibition, it manufactured an Edge 3 to exactly match the specifications of Philip’s power chair. Philip also helped to design the mannequin that models her bodysuit in the display.
Mellissa Huber, Associate Curator of The Costume Institute at the Met, said in the announcement, “I think it’s incredibly significant and important to be able to present fashion this way. We’ve never represented disability in this manner or included a wheelchair in any of our prior exhibitions. I hope that when visitors come through the galleries and they see that type of representation, and they see creativity and beauty being linked with diversity, that they’ll be inspired and that it will really illuminate the point for them that fashion is for everyone.”
Philip, who has walked runways for Moschino and Collina Strada, said in a 2021 Vogue story, “I started modeling when I was around 16 or 17, after looking at fashion and magazines and never seeing anyone who looked like me. … My work has always held that significance where I feel like everything that I do speaks to something larger than myself.”
The Women Dressing Women exhibition is open through March 3, 2024.
