Emily Noelle Morabito is a designer seeking solutions that address barriers of disability and the consequences of climate change. Her work aims to provide people accessibility, ease, and the opportunity to find joy in movement.
Emily Noelle’s work connects with her passion for outdoor recreation and movement. Her experience in the outdoor industry, working as an Outdoor Adventure Guide and a Yoga instructor taught her the necessity of movement for all. Her earliest work in adaptive design began when her Grandfather who, diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, was losing the ability to dress himself. She showed her first line of adaptive clothing in York County Fashion Week in 2018.
In collaboration with Parsons x Open Style Lab x AARP, Emily Noelle is codesigning a line of adaptive activewear with individuals who identify with varying physical disabilities. For her senior thesis at Parsons School of Design, she received a grant from the New School Design for Aging fund. Through the development of kinetic draping processes, she has pushed patternmaking beyond tradition to accommodate bodies outside of the traditional fashion figure. In her design practice, environmental consciousness is manifested through the use of deadstock fabrics, recycled technical fabrics, and locally sourced wools. Natural dyeing further connects her work to nature through color palates derived from the earth. By recycling scrap fabric into new textiles she has implemented a zero waste practice.
With empathy and a mission to share her love for the natural world, Emily Noelle advocates for the necessity of movement in bodies of all forms and abilities.