After accepting the necessity of using a wheelchair herself, Louise Linderoth discovered an underserved group within luxury fashion. Now, with her brand Lou Dehrot, the Swedish designer is creating exceptional garments specifically for those sitting down
Swedish designer Louise Linderoth has turned adversity into triumph. Still, her journey has not been easy. “At the age of 10, I got a spinal cord injury. It started with a regular cold that progressed to pneumonia that spread to my spinal cord,” Linderoth, now 28, explains. “I had a really hard time accepting my disability.”
She spent 12 years on crutches until finally, while in the third year of her bachelor’s degree at The Swedish School of Textiles, she realised she “needed to change something”. “I needed to accept my body and accept the wheelchair as a mobility aid because I needed to focus on more important things in life,” she says.
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Upcycled denim jumpsuit, price on request. Lou Dehrot. Photo: Benjamin Tarp
For Linderoth, that empowering moment has remained the foundation of her work ever since. In 2017, she founded her own brand, Lou Dehrot. Having always possessed a keen interest in fashion (she got her first sewing machine at 11), Linderoth found comfort in her craft, turning her frustration into a source of inspiration. "I get a lot of inspiration from issues and problems I face on a daily basis, for example, ableism,” she says, referring to the discrimination against people with disabilities. “That’s something I face everyday and that annoys me all the time.”
Linderoth’s designs, often deconstructed garments specifically crafted to be worn in a seated position, are at once functional and luxurious – an approach rarely seen in adaptive fashion. Oversized denim engulfs the body, the waistband acting as an off-the-shoulder top. Elsewhere, unexpected slits and nips give way to a punkish attitude. “Wheelchair users often use leggings, sweatpants and stockings. That’s why I chose to begin with designing jeans, because they are one of the hardest garments to wear,” she explains. “And also blazers, because they, too, are really hard to wear as a wheelchair user.”
In an industry that is moving in the desired direction regarding body inclusivity, albeit slowly, Linderoth wants her work to help usher in a greater change. “I would like to make bodies with disability a natural part of fashion, to be in the same scene and not in the adaptive scene,” she says, noting her passion for showing the “possibilities there are in creating garments for another type of body than what we’re used to.”
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Upcycled denim jumpsuit, price on request. Lou Dehrot. Photo: Benjamin Tarp
When we talk about the obstacles she has faced during her career – from disapproval of her designs to being denied a fashion show – Linderoth shows no sign of being dissuaded. Instead, she relies on the same tenacious determination that sparked her creative journey in the first place . “It is so important to highlight that it ’s not always easy to do this,” she says. “And it's even more important when these kinds of things happen, because then you know that the fashion world isn’t where we want it to be and that's what we really need to work on.”
Linderoth’s persistence is paying off. While she continues to develop her label – in addition to the made-to-order Lou Dehrot garments, she’s already collaborated with Gina Tricot and Dr. Denim – she also recently accepted a design position at H&M. The icing on the cake? Her feature in Vogue Scandinavia. “Vogue is something that I’ve known about since I was like five,” she says. “When I started changing my mindset I applied it to fashion as well, as I was working with a different body. For Vogue to not only confirm it but also want to highlight it, it makes me super happy.”