September 06, 2026Interview

Your Body Was Never the Problem: Hanan Tantush on Style, Disability and Refusing to Compromise

Cool Crutches and Intotum were both started by a woman who could not buy the thing she needed, so she made it instead. For our founder Amelia it was a pair of hospital crutches that blistered her hands and clicked with every single step. For Hanan Tantush it was watching her grandad struggle to get dressed around a new stoma. Neither of them set out to found a company, both of them ended up doing it because the alternative was accepting that this is just how it is.

It is not just how it is, it never should have been.

This month we have teamed up with Intotum, the adaptive fashion brand Hanan founded, and we are running a joint giveaway which you will find at the bottom of this page. But first we wanted to sit down with her properly, because the more we talked, the more obvious it became that we are two brands telling the same story from two different wardrobes.

Meet Hanan, the founder of Intotum

Hanan Tantush is a fashion designer and the founder of Intotum. She began developing the idea while studying Womenswear at London College of Fashion, though the making started a long time before the business did.

"I've been sewing since I was ten."

Hanan always knew she wanted a career in fashion, what she had not imagined was that she would end up running a business, let alone helping to build an entirely new category inside an industry that had barely acknowledged the need for one.

It started with Hanan's grandad

Following cancer treatment, Hanan's grandad had a stoma positioned exactly where most waistbands naturally sit. Overnight, getting dressed went from unremarkable to painful.

"Seeing how dramatically something as ordinary as clothing affected his confidence and independence made me realise just how badly fashion was failing disabled people."

It landed personally, too. Hanan had been making her own clothes since she was a child because she hated how ordinary clothing felt and fitted. She already knew that what you wear does more than cover you up. Watching her grandad simply made the stakes impossible to ignore.

"Clothing is never 'just clothing'. Waistbands caused pain, getting dressed became more complicated and he gradually stopped wanting to leave the house."

Read that last part again, because it is the bit that most people miss. He did not just become uncomfortable, he became reclusive and felt ashamed of his stoma. Something as ordinary as getting dressed had started affecting whether he wanted to leave the house.

If you have ever cancelled a plan because the practicalities felt like too much, you already understand exactly what Hanan is describing. It is rarely one dramatic thing, it is an accumulation of small, badly designed obstacles until staying home starts to feel like the easier option.

Happily, this story has an ending we love. Hanan says her grandad now proudly shows people his stoma and tells almost everyone he meets about Intotum, he even carries her business cards in his wallet.

Hanan's story is proof of what good design can do. It doesn't just solve a practical problem, it hands somebody back the version of themselves they thought they had lost.

"Your body is not the problem"

We asked Hanan what she would say to somebody who is struggling right now to find clothes that work for their body or their condition. Her answer is the reason we wanted to publish this interview at all:

"Your body is not the problem. The clothing has simply not been designed with you in mind. You deserve clothes that work properly, feel good and still reflect your style. You should never be made to feel difficult for expecting that."

Swap the word clothing for almost anything else and it still holds - the zip you cannot grip, the waistband that catches, the seam that digs in when you are seated, the crutch that blisters your hands, the walking stick that clicks so loudly you can hear yourself coming. The one supposedly accessible option in the shop, in beige, that looks like it was designed by somebody who has never met you.

After enough of those, it is very easy to conclude that you are the difficult one. That you are fussy, or ungrateful, or asking for too much.

But the truth? You are not asking for too much, you're asking for what everybody else gets by default.

What adaptive clothing actually is

If the term is new to you, here is the short version:

Adaptive clothing is clothing designed from the very beginning around how a disabled person actually dresses and actually moves, rather than a standard garment with a small adjustment added at the end.

In practice adaptive clothing can include features such as:

Fastenings you can genuinely manage - magnetic closures, larger pull tabs, side openings. Not tiny buttons that assume two strong hands and a good day.
Cuts designed for a seated body - so nothing rides up, bunches at the back, or drags under your wheels.
Stoma and ostomy friendly waistbands - positioned so they do not sit where they hurt, with discreet access when you need it.
Access for tubes, lines and ports - so you are not half undressed in a waiting room while somebody reaches a device.
Sensory friendly finishing - flat seams, no scratchy labels, fabric chosen for how it feels as well as how it looks.
One handed dressing - because independence should not depend on both sides of your body cooperating.

Then comes the part the industry keeps treating as optional, it should look like something you would normally reach for, and actively want to wear.

Who adaptive clothing is for, which is more people than you think

Intotum designs for a genuinely wide range of needs, including:

Wheelchair users and anyone who dresses seated
People living with POTS and other conditions affected by heat, pressure or bloating
People with a stoma or ostomy
People with feeding tubes, lines, ports and other medical devices
People with limb difference or a prosthetic
People with sensory sensitivities
Anyone whose grip, strength or dexterity is compromised

As Hanan points out, there are around 1.3 billion disabled people globally, all with different lives, different tastes and different reasons to get dressed in the morning. That is not a niche, it is a market the fashion industry has been ignoring in plain sight.

What was missing was not function, it was choice

When Intotum began, Hanan could see exactly what the gap was:

Disabled people were being asked to pick between clothing that worked but looked clinical, or clothing that looked good but did not work at all. More brands are exploring adaptive fashion now, which she welcomes, but she believes there is still a real distance between what those brands make and what disabled customers actually want, particularly when it comes to properly fashionable pieces:

"Style is a form of identity. Disabled people deserve to dress for their personality, their job, a date or a night out like anyone else, without having to compromise."

She is also not willing to let accessibility become an excuse for making something cheap:

"As a designer, I really value true quality and want to create durable pieces that people will love and cherish for years."

We felt that one in our bones, we have spent twenty years being told that a mobility aid only needs to work, and we have never accepted grey as a good enough answer.

What good adaptive clothing and good mobility aids have in common

We asked Hanan directly about the overlap between her world and ours. Her answer could go straight on our wall.

"Both should support your life without asking you to compromise who you are."

Clothing and mobility aids are two of the most visible things a person carries through their day. They are on you, in every room you walk into, in every photograph. So why has function been allowed to be the only consideration?

"When something works well and feels like you, it can completely change the confidence with which you move through the world."

Our mission has always been to help people find independence and confidence. Hanan's goal is more choice, more confidence and more freedom. Two founders, two industries, and somehow the same three words keep coming up.

Built with disabled people, not for them

One of Hanan's biggest lessons is one we have learnt too, slowly, over twenty years of being told by our community exactly what we had got wrong.

There is no single disabled experience. So there can never be one universal solution.

"No feature works perfectly for everybody."

Intotum works directly with disabled customers and models, testing, listening and being prepared to throw an idea out completely.

"Some of our best solutions have come from small comments during fittings that I could never have discovered by designing alone."

This matters more than it sounds, accessibility cannot mean a non disabled designer deciding what disabled people probably need. The people who will use the thing have to be in the room while it is being made.

So why do disability products still look so clinical?

We put the question to Hanan, because we have been asking it for two decades:

"Disability has historically been treated as a medical problem rather than a normal part of human diversity, while disabled people have been excluded from decision making conversations."

The result is products built to perform a basic function, with style filed under unnecessary extra. Hanan believes that changes the moment disabled people are involved from the beginning, as designers, as decision makers, and as customers whose preferences genuinely count.

A mobility aid can be medically excellent and beautiful. Adaptive clothing can be easy to put on and something you cannot wait to wear. Accessibility has never required you to hand over your personality at the door.

The honest bit: building something with no blueprint

We asked Hanan what the hardest part of building Intotum has been, and she did not give us a tidy answer, which we appreciated enormously:

"The hardest part has been building something the traditional fashion industry has no blueprint for, particularly as a young and neurodivergent founder. There have definitely been moments when I've questioned whether I could make it work, especially when balancing accessibility, ethical production and affordability."

Any woman who has built a business in an industry that was not expecting her will recognise that sentence. There is no template, there are very few people to ask and the maths of doing it properly, ethically and affordably rarely wants to work.

What keeps her going is not a spreadsheet:

"Then a customer tells me they dressed independently or felt like themselves again, and I remember exactly why it needs to exist."

The moments that actually matter

Intotum has real milestones behind it now, including Hanan becoming a member of the British Fashion Council. But when we asked what she is proudest of, she did not pick an award, she picked the messages.

Someone dressing themselves independently, someone feeling like themselves for the first time since becoming disabled, photographs of customers wearing Intotum to a wedding, or to a hospital appointment:

"That may look like a small everyday moment to others, but I know how much freedom and confidence it can represent. It's about creating a space where people can find both clothing and community."

We know those messages, we get them too and they are the reason both of these businesses exist. Those are the messages that make all the difficult bits of building businesses like these worthwhile.

What Hanan wants to change about how disability is seen

"I would want disabled people to be represented as whole, varied human beings rather than either inspirational heroes, people to feel sorry for, or simply their illnesses. Disability can be difficult, joyful, frustrating, funny and completely ordinary, often all at once."

Difficult, joyful, frustrating, funny and completely ordinary. Often all at once. We have never seen it put better, and it is exactly what our community tells us every day, whether the subject is work, a social life, or raising children.

Hanan's three things that make life easier

Noise cancelling headphones. "Noise-cancelling headphones are a lifesaver for my sensory needs."
Magnetic fastenings. "Magnetic fastenings are genius and can remove a surprising amount of everyday frustration."
Say what works out loud. "Once you find something that works, tell everyone, because a personal recommendation goes a long way."

And then the one we would like printed on a tea towel:

"My biggest life hack is to stop feeling guilty for doing something in the way that works best for you."

What is next for Intotum

Hanan and her team are expanding the range, the sizing and developing adaptive sportswear directly with disabled athletes. They are looking internationally and want more chances for customers to see and feel the clothing in person.

She also has an open invitation, which we would encourage you to take her up on. If there is a garment you have spent years wishing somebody would make, tell her. If you would like to model for Intotum, they would love to hear from you.

Because, in Hanan's own words, adaptive fashion is not a charitable extra and it is not a tiny niche, it is fashion and disabled customers deserve the same choice, quality, personality and joy as everybody else.

Quick fire with Hanan

One thing you wish everyone understood about disability?
"It's not one experience, and access needs are never one size fits all."

One product or life hack you could not live without?
"My noise cancelling headphones."

One thing you want to change about fashion?
"Who it considers worth designing for."

What are you most excited about next?
"Taking Intotum to more people and creating more in person events."

If you take one thing from this

Take Hanan's sentence, "Your body is not the problem".

You are allowed to want a walking stick you are not embarrassed to put in the umbrella stand. You are allowed to want a dress you can get into by yourself on a bad day. You are allowed to want the version with the print on it. None of that is vanity and none of it is asking for too much. It is the entirely reasonable expectation that a product made for you should have been made with you in mind.

Two women, in two different industries, have spent years building on exactly that belief. We would both quite like the rest of the market to catch up.

Win your own adaptive style makeover

To celebrate two brands built on the same belief, we have teamed up with Intotum for a rather brilliant giveaway.

One winner will receive:

💕 A pair of Cool Crutches or a Cool Walking Stick of their choice, including personalised, bespoke and glitter designs (excluding Diamanté)
💕 A £200 Intotum voucher

To enter, head to our competition post on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok and follow the entry instructions there.

Adaptive clothing questions we get asked

What is adaptive clothing?

Adaptive clothing is clothing designed from the start around how a disabled person dresses and moves, rather than standard clothing altered afterwards. It typically includes features such as magnetic or easy grip fastenings, seated cuts, stoma friendly waistbands, discreet openings for tubes and ports, sensory friendly seams, and designs you can manage with one hand.

Who is adaptive clothing for?

Anyone whose body or health means standard clothing does not work well. That includes wheelchair users, people with a stoma or ostomy, people with feeding tubes, ports or other medical devices, people with limb difference or prosthetics, people with conditions such as POTS, people with sensory sensitivities, and anyone with reduced grip, strength or dexterity.

Is adaptive clothing the same as inclusive fashion?

Not quite. Inclusive fashion is a broader term about who the industry represents and serves. Adaptive clothing is specific: garments with genuine design changes built in to make dressing easier, safer or more comfortable for a disabled wearer.

Where can I buy adaptive clothing in the UK?

There is a growing group of UK adaptive fashion brands. Intotum is a British adaptive clothing brand founded by designer Hanan Tantush, offering premium adaptive denim, coats, dresses, trousers and tops alongside specialist ostomy, tube access and seated pieces. You can shop the range at intotumfashion.com.

Does adaptive clothing have to look medical?

No. That look is a hangover from disability being treated as a purely medical problem, with disabled people left out of design decisions. When disabled people are involved from the beginning as designers, decision makers and customers, adaptive clothing can be as stylish as anything else on the high street.

Do you pay VAT on crutches and walking sticks in the UK?

If you have a long term illness or are registered disabled, you may be eligible for VAT relief on mobility aids bought for personal use. You can read how it works and complete a declaration on our VAT exemption page.

Keep reading

Not sure which walking aid is right for you? Take our two minute mobility quiz or browse our bestsellers. If you would rather have something nobody else has, look at our patterned and glitter designs, or order bespoke personalised crutches or a bespoke personalised walking stick in whatever you actually want to carry.