Natalie Trevonne

Chief Executive Officer NYI Inc / Accessibility & Strategy Consultant LaVant Consulting, Inc.

Natalie first began her fashion journey in 2020 when she started a podcast called Fashionably Tardy where her cohost Melissa Lomax introduced their audiences to professionals working behind the scenes in the fashion industry. The idea was to help bridge the gap between Disability and Fashion. In 2021, tech professional and Artist Ernest Spicer heard one of the Fashionably Tardy podcast episodes and searched for Natalie on LinkedIn. Together, they created the Nessa Dress which was the first ever NFT created by a Blind Designer. The Nessa Dress was featured in Meta Fashion Week and caught the attention of publications like Essence and Vogue Business. After the success of the Nessa Dress, Ernest and Natalie set out to create a physical collection as Natalie felt that the Metaverse wasn’t very accessible for blind and low vision users. In 2022 they began working on a physical collection for NYI called Toucher or “to touch” in French. The collection is all about style you can touch. The Toucher collection debuted at the I Am Inclusive fashion experience co-created by NYI and LaVant Consulting Inc. This event was the first of its kind as it was a Runway show that was completely inclusive and accessible. The experience included cart captioning, audio description, ASL interpreting, a wheel chair accessible space, Covid protocols and a virtual option to watch the show. There was also an open call casting that included everyone over 18 with an emphasis on people from historically marginalized groups.