Playing dress-ups is almost a childhood rite of passage, up there
with deciding which foods you hate and securing your first ever
best friend. Irish sisters Ailbhe and Isabel Keane were especially
creative as kids, though. They’d use any excuse to dress up Isabel’s
wheelchair, winding fresh flowers through the spokes for a wedding;
adding fairy lights and tiny baubles for Christmas.
“She always had really cool, crazy wheels, even from when we
were really young,” Ailbhe recalls. The problem was, their inventive
decorations were only ever temporary, much to Isabel’s frustration.
Most of the time she rolled around in a humdrum regular wheelchair,
the basic design of which has changed very little over the past century.
Born with spina bifida, a spinal condition that means she’s
paralysed from the waist down, Isabel considers her wheelchair a
symbol of freedom – but, unfortunately, it’s a rather ugly one. “I’ve
always had a really positive relationship with my wheelchair, but I’ve
found that difficult to portray,” she says. “I don’t want it to look like
a lump of metal made in a hospital, because I have it with me all the
time. It’s large and so bland – it’s crying out to be decorated.”
That’s essentially how the sisters landed on the grand idea of turning
what’s long been seen as a medical device into something far more
fashionable. It was mid-2015 and Ailbhe was scouting around for her
final art college project. “I came across this brief to empower the lives
of people living with a long-term lifestyle-related health condition,
and straight away I thought of Isabel,” Ailbhe recalls. Having majored
in illustration, print and animation, and recognising that her sister’s
wheels were like “one big, blank canvas”, Ailbhe set about creating
bright and cheery wheel covers to match Isabel’s sunny personality.
“I called the brand Izzy Wheels, obviously after Isabel. And we came
up with the tagline: ‘If you can’t stand up, stand out.’”
Astonishingly quickly, that college project has grown into a globally
recognised business. An Irish TV station spotted Ailbhe’s designs at
her graduation show last June and invited the pair on their show.
In the ensuing media storm, government body Enterprise Ireland
fronted up some cash and an office space, which helped the girls
launch their online shop last September. Seven national awards
followed, and even Instagram came knocking, allowing Ailbhe and
Isabel to tell their story to 227 million followers for one entire day.
“It’s just been a rollercoaster!” Ailbhe says.
The beauty of Izzy Wheels – beyond just, well, their actual
beauty – is their interchangeability. Other spruce-your-wheels
companies tend to offer permanent solutions; Ailbhe and Isabel
wanted the chance to switch wheel covers according to one’s
outfit or mood. “If your wheelchair always looks the same, it’s
like wearing the same coat or shoes every single day,” Ailbhe
explains. Working with Isabel, she designed a simple velcro
system to make swapping the waterproof and scratch-proof
covers a cinch. “I have dozens, at least. I literally have a wheel
wardrobe,” Isabel says. “Making my chair colourful and nice
completely breaks down its stigma and shows people they don’t
have to ignore it. I know it’s there. You know it’s there. We don’t
have to skirt around it.”
The girls have since collaborated with 25 international
creatives, including famed Irish fashion designer Orla Kiely;
mural artist Maser; the Barcelona-based brothers behind
Brosmind; and Irish illustrator Mark Conlan, who lives in
Melbourne. Their whimsical designs have so far found homes
in 25 countries, and by all accounts are proving a refreshing
conversation starter. “Wheelchair users hate people feeling
sorry for them,” Ailbhe says. “A wheelchair should be a symbol
of ability, not disability – it’s what gives you freedom. When
people tell a wheelchair user they love their wheels, it’s a really
deep compliment. To be able to design something that impacts
people’s lives in such a positive way is incredibly rewarding.”isabel and ailbhe keane live by the motto:
if you can’t stand up, stand out.
WORDS KOREN HELBIGizzy wheels
our project