On a frigid December night in Manhattan’s East Village, as you approached the entrance of Short Stories, one of the neighborhood’s newest bar and restaurant, you noticed an unusual thing for this area— a wheelchair ramp. The East Village, along with other New York City’s historic neighborhoods, is notoriously known for its wheelchair-inaccessible buildings and hard-to-navigate cobblestone streets.
On this night, in particular, MIGA Swimwear, a swimsuit line specifically for people with disfigurements, chronic illnesses and disabilities, was having a launch party for its second line. In order to be inclusive of guests, MIGA’s CEO and founder, María Luisa Mendiola, made sure the venue was wheelchair accessible, prompting the owner to place a ramp in the entrance.
Short Stories had the ramp since its opening, but this night was the first time it was used.
“Places say they don’t need to be wheelchair-accessible because they don’t have customers in wheelchairs,” says Mendiola. “But the truth is, they’re losing customers in wheelchairs and with disabilities by not being accessible. It’s amazing to see MIGA is making places like [Short Stories] shift the narrative.”
MIGA Swimwear officially launched in November 2018, when Mendiola raised over $10,000 to release the brand’s first collection that was made specifically for burn survivors. For the second line, Mendiola wanted to reach a grander population and help even more people feel confident in swimsuits. Through 25 answers to a survey she sent out to people living with different kinds of physical conditions, Mendiola came up with five new designs for this year’s collection.
Those five new designs were crafted carefully to accommodate over 25 different diagnoses, including spinal cord injuries, sacrococcygeal tumors and ostomies. For example, one design includes a high waisted bikini bottom with an adaptable belt with snaps so the wearer can comfortably place a stoma bag. This swimsuit was inspired by a woman named Lydia, who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. As a result, she underwent surgery to remove her large intestine and got an ileostomy. Lydia is now one out of 450,000 people in the U.S. who wears a stoma bag.
With each purchase of a MIGA swimsuit, you receive a canvas bag detailing the story behind the design. Not only does this storytelling empowers the person whose the story is about, but it also opens up a dialogue between the consumer and the brand, which in turn creates a space for more conversations to be held.
Mendiola explains, “the brand doesn’t work unless we have people that both have disfigurement and don’t, or have disabilities and don’t. [MIGA] is a brand where we want to have those kinds of conversations that are not being had. It’s a brand equally for people that do have disabilities and for people who, when someone that looks differently walks into a room, don’t know how to react. We want to create that space where it’s not patronizing. We don’t want to like educate for the sake of educating. But like the more you know, the more you can combat that awkwardness and I think at the end, it’s all about how you can be more of a kind human [who’s] understanding and empathetic.”
Mendiola developed the vision of MIGA from her own insecurities about her physical disfigurement. She has brachymetatarsia, which in her case, means that she has shortened fourth toes on both of her feet. As a young girl growing up in Costa Rica, she was told to conceal this imperfection in her appearance.
It was only through her fashion studies at Central Saint Martins in London that she found her true passion for bringing inclusivity in the fashion industry — when the idea for MIGA Swimwear was conceived — and she started becoming more accepting of herself. In the process of building the brand, Mendiola has also inspired dozens of other people to be comfortable with their own physical appearances, especially at such a vulnerable place like the beach or pool.
The 2019 MIGA Swimwear line launched on December 12, and each of the five designs is available in sizes XS through 3XL.
by Sarah Kim / Forbes
