For people with disabilities, functional fashion can feel like a myth. Nationwide stores and boutiques alike have traditionally lacked accessible options tailored to all ability levels. That’s where Richmond-based adaptive clothing brand No Limbits found its niche, and the company recently took major strides to expand its offerings into the largest retailers in the country.
Founder and CEO Erica Cole didn’t intend to become an entrepreneur; she was studying to be a chemist at the University of Iowa when she lost her leg in a car accident in 2018. Her background in costume sewing came in handy to alter her own clothing to better suit her prosthetic. “I started by word of mouth, doing alterations for wheelchair users and other folks that needed some adaptive changes to their clothing,” Cole says.
After launching a successful Kickstarter campaign, Cole went on the television series “Shark Tank” in 2022 and made a deal with investors Emma Grede and Mark Cuban for $100,000 for 10% equity in the brand. Cole then participated in Lighthouse Labs, a local startup accelerator, and decided to establish No Limbits in Richmond. “There’s a really interesting, self-driven founder community here,” Cole says.
No Limbits’ most recent line, launched in September 2024, is for adults and children with sensory processing disorders and sensory sensitivities. Sensory-friendly brands are rare, and it can be even more challenging to find this variety of clothing for adults, especially in a wider range of styles and sizes. The shirts, tank tops and hoodies in the collection are made of soft, cooling fabric with no tags and flat seams. Inside the sweatshirt’s front pouch is a textured swirling pattern that the wearer can trace as a fidget tool.
“It takes us a year and a half to develop a new product or category on average,” Cole says. “That’s way longer than the traditional fashion industry, just because a lot of stuff hasn’t really been done before.”
The brand partnered with Walmart to stock and sell these all-ages products online, a connection that brings the locally designed clothing to a national audience. Cole further expanded the brand’s reach with an appearance on QVC this fall to debut No Limbits’ magnetic zip front jacket, an adaptive design meant to aid wearers with limited hand mobility. Certain prints and colors of the jacket can only be purchased through the shopping television network.
The show’s format allowed her not only to showcase her products, but to also explain the unique features of adaptive clothing. “There’s a consumer education piece that has to happen,” Cole says. “People with disabilities aren’t used to being able to have options.”
For Cole and her brand, this is just the beginning. “We’re on the cusp of mainstream brands adopting adaptive fashion,” she says. Some of these brands have done a one-time-only adaptive clothing launch, but accessibility is more than a trend for No Limbits. “We are proving that this space exists in the apparel category. That’s a huge part of how we see our role as a company.”
