They may look like ordinary dresses, T-shirts and sweaters, but Taylor Byrom’s children’s clothing serves a much greater purpose.
Using simple design altercations, Byrom’s first fashion line — Jolie Hart — is fully functional with feeding tubes, tracheotomy tubes, wheelchairs and sensory processing disorders.
Created for girls ages 2 to 6, the soft fabrics, removable backs and button-up sides make dressing a child with complex medical needs one step easier.
“I wanted to do something that was helpful,” the 24-year-old Langley designer said.
“It wasn’t just clothing. It could actually affect someone and change their life and enhance their life. It wouldn’t just be T-shirts, it would be something that really does change the way someone sees fashion.”
Officially launched on Nov. 20, Byrom has worked with BC Children’s Hospital, the Feeding Tube Awareness Foundation, the Centre for Child Development at Surrey Memorial Hospital, Canuck Place and parent advisory groups to tailor her products to what her clients need.
“When I did the research, it actually came back that boys were more needed,” Byrom said.
“But every mom who had a daughter said this to me: ‘my daughter with a feeding tube cannot wear a dress.’
“That was just heartbreaking to me, being such a girly girl.
“Girls need to be able to wear dresses if they chose to do that.”
Originally, Byrom set out to be a designer for women’s wear. It’s a dream she’s had since taking home economic classes in high school, and a career path she was following until her last year of fashion design school at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
As a class requirement, she had to write a 10-page personal vision statement on who she was and what kind of designer she wanted to be.
“I never thought I would do children’s clothing, I couldn’t understand why you would want to make something that you couldn’t wear,” Byrom said.
“But it amazes me how that paper in fourth year just changed my outlook on life. It made me realize that children’s wear was actually my passion, I had no idea. I didn’t expect it to at all. I put that paper off for months. It changed my whole perspective on design and who I am as a designer and what I need to do.”
Byrom says it was a “serendipitous moment,” as when she was writing the paper, she was also volunteering at miracle weekend for BC Children’s Hospital. That’s when it dawned on her that many of the children would benefit from specialized clothing.
After months of research, she created Jolie Hart as her final collection at KPU in 2013. The clothing she sells now still use those original designs, with many improvements.
Working out of Kwantlen’s design lab in Surrey, Byrom creates each item by hand.
“I tried to design each piece to accommodate many needs,” she said.
“I make sure to use as minimal seaming as possible, while still maintaining design, because that’s a big thing for me.
“I want the clothes to be super cute, and not just plain medical clothes — I want them stylish. I think (that’s) a nice thing, especially for girls. They need to look super cute, and as cute as everyone else.”
For wheelchairs, Byrom has designed the backs to come off the jackets to reduce bulk while seated.
“We’ve all sat in a car and had our jackets bunch up on our backs,” she said. “So if you’re seated in a chair for a long period of time, you don’t want all that extra fabric. So (the backs) button right off. Some children are only in wheelchairs when they go out in public, just for ease. So they can have it unbuttoned then, or if they are walking for a little bit, they can button it back up.”
The removable backs also work well with feeding tubes, which can slip out the side, she added.
For sensory processing, Byrom uses soft fabrics and a heat press for information printed at the back of the neck.
“A big issue is the tags at the back of the neck, which bother anyone, really, without sensory processing,” she said.
“You have to have wash instructions, that’s by law, so my wash instructions are always kept down near the bottom of anything. They’re out of the way and easy to remove if they really don’t want them in there. And then at the back of the neck, I actually have a heat press. It’s very non irritable. I’ve actually put it in a couple of my clothes so I could see, and I’ve had kids test them.”
Byrom is now working on her spring collection, which will feature new a raincoat, as requested by one of the parent’s in her advisory group.
Her fall collection is available for purchase online on Etsy, here.
For more on Byrom and Jolie Hart, visit her website taylorhartdesigns.com.
