Aille Design (pronounced: eye) is an emerging designer brand that works alongside the blind and visually impaired community to create clothing with a fashion statement you can feel. Our designs, which are created through a co-design process, feature intricate beadwork in the form of braille to communicate clothing characteristics, such as a garment’s color, fit, textile, and wash instructions. All of the braille beadwork is fully legible, customizable, and applied by hand using premium crystal pearls. Products are made sustainably in North America and 5% of profits are donated to the Visually Impaired Advancement (VIA), who we are honored to have a long-term partnership with. Our designs can be used for the functionality of the legible braille, can be dressed up as a unique fashion piece, or can be worn to initiate conversation about disability, braille, and the importance of accessibility. Braille fashion first originated as a research project when founder Alexa Jovanovic was studying fashion communication at university. She built strong relationships with local blind and visually impaired individuals and together they discussed everything from shopping, clothing trends, and closet organization, to society’s misconceptions of what it means to “look and feel” blind. In January 2020, we transformed our research and co-design process into the emerging designer fashion brand, Aille Design.