Denim & Co. Adaptive brings inclusive clothes to QVC

Denim & Co.—QVC’s popular private-label fashion brand—launched a new collection of clothing this week that centers around the need for more accessible clothing in extended sizing.

The aptly named Denim & Co. Adaptive line features five products at the time of the launch but promises new items will be added to the collection every month. We spoke with Rachel Ungaro, vice president and general merchandise manager of QVC apparel, about the collection.

“There's just so many layers,” Ungaro says of the details one must consider when designing adaptive clothing. “That was probably one of the biggest learnings for me is how many different layers and how many different things we had to think about, which is why we didn't rush.”

This isn’t QVC’s first foray into adaptive fashion, as the video-commerce giant started carrying accessible clothing from brands like Tommy Hilfiger, MagnaReady, and Yarrow last year. And the company’s Adaptive & Accessible collection features Accessible Living products, but this new collection coming from QVC-owned Denim & Co. is its first step into actually producing clothing tailored to the disabled and aging communities.

Ungaro, who has been caregiver to aging parents, says the collection is for “not only Americans living with disabilities, but also aging in place in assisted living environments, recovering from surgery, illness, or an injury... we keep talking about the caregiver, and how they can benefit from products like this.”

QVC-owned Denim & Co. was a natural jumping-off point for the adaptive line, says Ungaro. The brand’s vast assortment allowed its adaptive catalog to “venture into what you see out there in other adaptive lines, a lot of denim a lot of casual, but then it also has a wear-to-work aspect to it as well.”

In a pre-launch press release, QVC states that Denim & Co. will break from the industry-standard price hike on adaptive clothing by offering “the same styles at the same price points” as you’ll find across the rest of the brand’s product line.

An essential part of the launch and further development of the new line is customer feedback. “One of the things that we talked about was making sure that after we sell the product and start to get some feedback that we really listen to the community,” says Ungaro, “and understand where we did a great job and knock it out of the park, and then where do we have improvements.”

QVC’s new Denim & Co. clothing collection features five items but the catalog will be expanded monthly. Here’s the selection as it exists today.

• Denim Big Shirt with Side Slits for $61
• Zipper Pointelle SweaterCardigan for $64
• Comfy Knit Slim Ankle Wheelchair Pant for $71
• Comfy Knit Slim Straight Ankle Pant for $71
• Classic Faux Suede Jacket for $77