Wilton's clothing offers fashion, purpose

Everyone deserves the right to dress or be dressed with dignity, regardless of their physical condition.

With that in mind, Brenda Wilton decided to create a special clothing line.

Her Narrative Apparel brand is designed for individuals facing challenges as a result of aging, disease, disability, illness or injury.

It offers classic,stylish clothing such as jeans, khakis, polo shirts, dress and casual shirts, loungewear and pajamas for men. The women’s line includes slacks, blouses, tops, loungewear and pajamas.

The garments, with practical details hidden, are simple to put on and remove, even for those who cannot raise their arms over their heads or stand without assistance, a statement about the company said.

"Every day, we each get up a day older and have to dress. We all deserve the opportunity to dress with independence and dignity, without pain, frustration and limited clothing options," said Wilton.

A native of Pennsylvania, Wilton's idea for her business is based on her personal experience with dressing challenges as a youth and later while caring for family members dealing with illness and aging issues.

The former cheerleader and gymnast had just made the track team in high school when she had to wear a Milwaukee brace, a treatment used to stabilize and prevent progression of a deformity in the spine.

She wore the "very unsightly" brace for four years.

"I really understand what it feels like when your clothing and what you have on gives people a different perception of who you really are," she said.

photo: backless formal dresses

It’s an understanding she also gained from her father’s viewpoint.

He had been in his 80s and had worked every day before becoming ill.

"It got to the point where there wasn’t any clothing available for him," Wilton said. "I saw what it did to his sense of dignity, his sense of independence and the impact it had on my parents."

Wilton moved to Greenville when her husband’s job transferred him to the area.

She had worked at Doncaster Apparel, a Rutherford, N.C.-based luxury and lifestyle brand of apparel for women, for 15 years.

Wilton's undergraduate degrees are in business and sociology and she worked in various fields.

In 2012, she decided to pursue an MBA in Clemson University’s entrepreneurship and innovation program.

While in the program, Wilton said she spent time flying back and forth to Pennsylvania, going in and out of medical facilities and dealing with long-term care nurses, wound care, occupational therapists and physical therapists.

It was then that she really came to understand that "there is not a product line that allows people to have clothing that looks very similar to normal wear if we didn’t have a physical condition."

"From that I developed a line of clothing that looks very normal and allows people to have dignity in the way they dress," she said. "It also helps people who are caregivers dress the people they’re responsible for with less injury to themselves and less stress and frustration for the people they’re dressing."

Wilton placed first in Clemson’s inaugural EnterPrize Awards presented by CertusBank, a three-city roadshow and competition that showcased MBAe student ventures while distributing $40,000 in seed funding to support promising concepts.

She won $20,000 to help fund her venture.

While quietly working on the clothing, Wilton became affiliated with Aging 2.0 Platform– a global innovation platform for aging and senior care.

She said Aging 2.0 nominated her for Black Box Connect First Female Founders Edition. She was one of 20 out of 12,000 women chosen to pitch their startup in a program sponsored by Google.

But, Wilton said, what’s "really amazing" is the opportunity she’s been given as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Brookdale Greenville, off Pelham Road.

As such, Wilton said she’s gets to experience every aspect of the assisted living, the nursing home, the memory care unit and have interaction with the staff, residents at all levels, caregivers - everyone from the women doing the laundry to the executive director.

It’s been a chance to "understand truly what the life experience is here and it’s been absolutely priceless," she said.

Wilton and residents of Brookdale Greenville debuted the attire in a fashion show.

Andrea Hunter, executive director of Brookdale Greenville, said residents "appreciate the opportunity to share their insights and experiences, so they can have an impact on this issue."

Wilton will be working with Omega Apparel in Nashville, Tennessee. In the spring, Omega will begin production for Narrative Apparel.

The garments will be sold online, direct to facilities, as well as some other channels of distribution, Wilton said.

She credits the apparel business and her own personal struggles for helping to bring her venture together.

"It’s been literally a gift from God," she said.

• When someone’s struggling with dressing, it’s difficult enough without having to ask for help, but when putting on or taking off clothing is painful, it becomes a difficult situation for everyone involved. This clothing is a solution to those problems."

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