Sinead Burke

Explore the life and impact of Sinéad Burke — Irish designer, educator, disability advocate, and author. Learn how she reshaped inclusive design, her major works and quotes, her philosophy, and her legacy.

Introduction

Sinéad Burke is an Irish writer, designer, educator, and disability rights advocate who has become a prominent voice in the movement for inclusive design and accessibility. Though she is often described as a “designer,” her work transcends fashion or product design — she works at the intersection of design, advocacy, policy, and education to challenge how environments, systems, and products include (or exclude) people.

She is widely known for her TED Talk “Why design should include everyone,” her consultancy Tilting the Lens, and her children’s book Break the Mould.

Early Life & Education

Burke was born around 1990 in Ireland. achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, which shaped much of her lived experience in a world not designed for her stature.

From an early age, she was attentive to how the built environment, clothing, and everyday objects failed to consider people of all bodies. At age 16, she began blogging to call attention to exclusion in fashion — especially how certain bodies were left out of sizing, representation, and design conversation.

Her formal education includes:

• Training as a primary school teacher, graduating top of her class and earning the Vere Foster Medal (awarded to the student with the highest teaching practice marks).

• A Master’s degree in Broadcast Production for Television and Radio from the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) in Ireland.

Her background in education, communication, and lived experience with disability deeply inform her design advocacy.

Design, Advocacy & Tilting the Lens

While many refer to her as a designer, Burke’s work is better characterized as design advocacy and consultancy — helping systems, businesses, and institutions embed accessibility and inclusion from inception, not as afterthoughts.

Tilting the Lens

In 2020, Sinéad Burke founded her consultancy, Tilting the Lens, which operates on the pillars of education, advocacy, and design.

She argues that accessibility is a framework, not just an outcome — meaning that it must be embedded in how design decisions are made, not bolted on at the end.

She also emphasizes that designing for the margins often benefits everyone; when the most-excluded voices are considered, design becomes more flexible, dignified, and adaptive.

Recognition & Awards

• She was awarded the 2025 London Design Innovation Medal in recognition of her leadership in inclusive design.

• She has been invited to speak at venues including TED, the White House, and Davos, and her TED Talk has been viewed millions of times.

• In 2019, she became the first little person to attend the Met Gala.

• She was guest-editor of British Vogue’s Forces for Change issue and featured on its cover, invited by the Duchess of Sussex.

• In 2019, she was appointed to Ireland’s Council of State by President Michael D. Higgins.

Philosophy & Style

Sinéad Burke’s design philosophy is deeply rooted in her lived experience. Some key principles:

• Design inclusion from the start: She rejects the idea that accessibility is an afterthought or mere compliance requirement.

• Lived experience as expertise: She contends that disabled people are experts in their own solutions and must be involved meaningfully in design and decision-making.

• Flexibility over rigidity: She pushes for adaptable, dignified solutions rather than one-size-fits-all or rigid accessibility checklists.

• Language matters: She draws attention to how language surrounding disability can marginalize — for example, terms like “midget” are slurs rooted in historical prejudice.

• Clothing as identity: She argues clothing is not trivial; what we wear affects how we feel, act, and see ourselves.

In her impactful TED Talk, she illustrates everyday design barriers — from high door handles and inaccessible bathrooms to clothing sizes and shoe options — asking, “Who are we not designing for?”

Memorable Quotes

Here are several notable quotations by Sinéad Burke:

“Disability is articulated as a struggle, an unnecessary burden that one must overcome… But disabled lives are multi-faceted — brimming with personality, pride, ambition, love, empathy, and wit.”

“For so long, the fashion industry has designed almost exclusively for a particular woman with particular measurements, and they’ve never really been challenged on it.”

“Clothes are not a frivolous subject, and the conversation around them should not be belittled. How we dress affects what we feel, what we do, and who we are.”

“The word ‘midget’ is a slur. It evolved from P. T. Barnum’s era of circuses and freak shows. Society has evolved. So should our vocabulary. Language is a powerful tool. It does not just name our society. It shapes it.”

“Having to re-articulate your values and, most importantly, your rights, is something that can be quite tiring and frustrating ... I am meticulous and tenacious and will continue to do so, because I believe it’s what’s right.”

“I want garments that reflect my personality. It’s difficult to find in the childrenswear department. And often, womenswear requires far too many alterations.”

These quotes reflect her synthesis of design, identity, dignity, and activism.

Legacy & Influence

Though her work is contemporary and ongoing, Sinéad Burke already exerts considerable influence:

• She has helped shift conversations in fashion, design, and urban planning toward universal design and accessibility.

• Her efforts amplify the voices of historically marginalized people in spaces of power — in design studios, boardrooms, government, and media.

• Through her consultancy, she is helping legacy brands rethink how they conceive products, spaces, and services to be more inclusive.

• She is also contributing to culture change, pushing institutions and consumers to see that inclusion benefits everyone.

• Her recognition (awards, platforms) helps validate inclusive design as serious, innovative, and necessary.

Lessons from Her Journey

1. Start from lived experience
   Burke didn’t wait to be invited into fashion; she began blogging to surface exclusion she experienced, and used that as a platform.

2. Advocacy and design can coexist
   You don’t have to choose between being an activist or designer — Burke integrates both.

3. Language is a design tool too
   How we speak about bodies, disability, and identity shapes how we design and how people are treated.

4. Change systems, not just products
   She pushes organizations to shift processes and decision-making, not merely tick accessibility boxes.

5. Persistence matters
   Her work requires rearticulating values, challenging norms, and pushing institutions; it’s slow, sometimes frustrating, but essential.