The Greatest Invention Since Pants!
This past year has been one of excitement and innovation for our team at Joe & Bella. We’re releasing our first two apparel items this summer and are excited for everyone to finally see what we’ve been working on! Our first item, coming out this summer, is CareZips® Classic by Joe & Bella. CareZips is an innovative easy-dress pant for those living with changes related to incontinence, mobility, and cognition.
What is CareZips?
The patented, three-zipper system allows for the pants to fully open from the waist to the knees: making dressing and undressing easy; and, the process of as changing incontinence products faster.
Zip. Zip. Zip. It’s really that fast!
Molly Dye created CareZips for men and CareZips for women while she was providing care for her mother who was living with Alzheimer's. Ms. Dye, who resides in Atlanta, GA, observed caregivers struggling to change her mother’s adult briefs. She knew there had to be a better, more compassionate way that was not only easier and less stressful for her mother, but also for the caregiver. “I realized that by designing pants whose front would fully open up from the waist to the knees, the entire changing process would be quicker,” she explained. “I cringed watching the stress and discomfort my mom experienced every time she was changed. I also empathized with the caregivers, who spent an inordinate amount of time on the changing process.”
Why We Love CareZips
CareZips was one of the first products we listed on Joe & Bella, and it quickly became our best seller. We fell in love with the innovative design (as did our customers, who bought out our entire stock) and knew that we wanted to make these pants available to as many people as possible who would benefit from them.
We kept hearing from both older adults and their care partners about how much easier and quicker dressing and cleaning became when using CareZips.
So last winter Molly granted an exclusive license to Joe & Bella to update and upgrade the fit, fabric, and design. Since then, we’ve been working closely with Molly to make these pants equally beautiful, comfortable, and of course, functional. To that end, we set out to find the perfect design team to help us reach our goal. We spoke with many designers and eventually found an innovative team in Canada who are a perfect fit. Apparelmark developed products for forward-thinking brands such as Lululemon, FIGS, and Public Rec. Together, Joe & Bella, Molly, and Apparelmark are designing two new versions of CareZips®, which will be followed by Joe & Bella’s full line of what’s known as “adaptive apparel” for older adults.
Joe & Bella in 2022
“Adaptive apparel is the label that’s been given to clothes that have enhanced features that make dressing easier. But we’re taking that two steps further with premium materials and sleek closure systems to create easy-on, ultra-comfortable clothes that are stylish,” explained Cara Sumpton, Apparelmark’s founder and lead designer. “The work we’re doing with Joe & Bella is the most meaningful we’ve ever embarked on,” she added. “Great design comes from putting yourself into the shoes of your customer. Together with the Joe & Bella team, we are reimagining the R&D process and putting our models through real-life scenarios.”
This winter we’ve carefully sourced new premium fabric; designed smart closures with longer pull-tab zippers and magnetic snaps; improved the fit so it looks better than ever; and turned the comfort level up to 11 with a smooth elastic waist!
“With CareZips®, we’re literally transforming the process of dressing for people who need help with incontinence and mobility,” said Joe & Bella’s founder, Jimmy Zollo. “But, in doing so, we’re never losing sight of our mission of creating beautiful clothes for older adults that they’d love to wear regardless of ability.”
We hope that you’ll love CareZips by Joe & Bella as much as we do. Since Day 1, our commitment to help people age easier and simpler, without sacrificing comfort or style, remains our priority. CareZips fits the bill. We also offer Men's Everyday Side Zip Pants and Women's Everyday Side Zip Pants for an easily accessible zip up everyday wear.
As a special offer for visiting our site, you can use the discount code GIFT10 at checkout to get $10 off each pair you buy!
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1 comment
What a great service! I’m not there yet but I’ll refer others to you and check in when I’m in need of such clothing.