Jake Baker-Cliff's inclusive design platform wecanfly has launched a special-edition purple football kit to make Worthing Football Club facilities disability-friendly.
Football is what got Jake into fashion. “I’ve been kicking a football since I could walk, so sport has always been my passion,” he recalls. Like many, he once aspired to become a professional footballer. “It didn’t quite happen,” he laughs.
As a child, Jake would doodle football kits just for fun. After completing his art foundation in Brighton, he earned a scholarship from Italian sportswear brand Sergio Tacchini to pursue the BA (Hons) Fashion Sportswear at London College of Fashion. “I realised I could take my newfound skill for fashion, and I didn't have to leave sport behind, which was really amazing,” he says.
The project that earned him the scholarship gradually turned into his current creative design platform, wecanfly. Inspired by his twin sister, Daisy, who is a person with a disability, wecanfly is on a mission to reshape societal perceptions of disability and promote inclusivity in fashion, art, and design.
"Daisy has shaped my life and who I am in the most beautiful and positive way," Jake explains. "Including people with disabilities isn’t just beneficial for them – it’s enriching for all of us and for society as a whole. I want to share this understanding with others so we can work together to make the world a better place."
Although rooted in fashion, Jake sees wecanfly as something much bigger than clothing. “Fashion is great when there's a message and a real purpose to what you do,” he adds. “wecanfly allows me to express my thoughts and feelings and create in a way that lets me be part of the fashion world and feel good about it.”
The idea to collaborate with Worthing Football Club came after Jake met the club’s owner, George Dowell, at a panel discussion. After surviving a devastating car accident at 17, George was left paralysed from the chest down but decided to use his compensation money to buy the local football club.
"I grew up not far from Worthing, so I knew George’s story, but we had never met,” Jake recalls. Soon, they realized they not only shared a passion for football but also a commitment to raising awareness for disability inclusion. “I suggested we create a football kit, and he liked the idea. We decided to launch it for Disability Awareness Month,” Jake says.
The biggest challenge was getting Worthing FC’s technical sponsor and sportswear manufacturer, Macron, on board. However, they quickly recognised the uniqueness of the project. “It allowed Macron to do something for people with disabilities in a really authentic way that doesn't make them look like they're just doing it to make money or look a certain way,” Jake says.
The kit design was revealed in a short film made by Jake and his friends. “We decided to make it quite fun, playful, and a little bit funny because it's important to speak about disability inclusion from all different lenses,” he explains. His favourite part of the filming day was getting everyone to say wecanfly’s slogan, “Disability is not inability.”
One moment stood out to him in particular – when young footballer Cooper and JD, who has cerebral palsy, said the slogan together. “Cooper said, ‘Disability is not inability,’ and JD followed with, ‘We can fly.’ That moment was so special because it summed up everything wecanfly stands for in one take,” Jake shares.
For him, working with young footballers was incredibly rewarding. “I’d guess that they don’t often think about disability inclusion – but that’s the whole point of wecanfly. We were there with them, having fun, making jokes, and hopefully, that experience will make them think about disabilities differently,” he says.
With 95% of the kits sold, the funds have already gone toward making Worthing FC more accessible for people with disabilities. “It's all about changing people's mindsets towards disabilities, which is how you change the perception in society,” Jake says. “I hope it just grows bigger.”