{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1793578"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1793578/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1793578","accessionNumber":"T.82:1, 2-2026","objectType":"walking stick","titles":[{"title":"‘Disability Pride Flag Walking Stick’","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Established in 2006, the UK brand Cool Crutches produce customisable, CE (Conformité Européenne) certified crutches and walking sticks widely known for their comfort, functionality, adaptability and availability in a wide range of designs. \n\r\nThe company was established by Amelia Peckham and her mother, Clare Braddell, after Peckham sustained a spinal injury. Dissatisfied with the standard hospital crutches with which Peckham was issued and alternatives available on the market, the pair wanted to create comfortable, quiet crutches with soft-grip moulded handles, originally made in black. Prompted by feedback from Peckham’s friends who had been using mobility aids for longer, they started to produce different finishes, later going on to offer Plain, Patterns & Prints, Glitter, and Diamanté ranges and the opportunity to purchase bespoke personalised crutches. In an interview with <i>Country Living</i>, Peckham observed, ‘To people who have had an accident, crutches are like shoes. You want them to look good.’ The award-winning brand introduced walking sticks in 2019 and mobility aids for children in 2023.\n\r\nFeatures of this walking stick include a moulded handle with a machine-washable neoprene grip, a wrist strap, a height adjustment clip designed to secure the chosen height and eliminate clicking, and a shock-absorbing rubber ferrule. It demonstrates the vinyl wrap technique with which Cool Crutches is closely associated. First ordered for the July 2023 Disability Pride Month, this bespoke wrap references the Disability Pride flag.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Black walking stick, the shaft of which is vinyl-wrapped with a Disability Pride Flag inspired design of spiralling stripes in green, blue, white, yellow and red against black. It is made up of this wrapped aluminium element with a moulded black plastic handle above; a black rubber seal at the end of this pole; an inner aluminium pole; a grey plastic plug for this second pole; a black ridged shock-absorbing rubber ferrule; a black plastic clip (embossed with an elephant motif to indicate the right way up) with a metal pin for adjusting the height of the pole; a black plastic wrist strap; and a black soft neoprene grip. Designed to separate into two parts for packing.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Cool Crutches","id":"AUTH406059"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"rubber","id":"AAT12941"},{"text":"aluminium","id":"AAT11015"},{"text":"plastic","id":"AAT14570"},{"text":"vinyl","id":"AAT14502"},{"text":"neoprene","id":"AAT14387"},{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"aluminium, metal, plastic, rubber and vinyl wrap, with neoprene grip","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Disability","id":"THES268732"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SHLN","id":"THES49063"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"SHLN","id":"THES49063"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"walking stick","id":"AAT221268"}],[{"text":"accessory","id":"AAT251645"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"UK","id":"x29336"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Europe","id":"x28842"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2023","earliest":"2023-01-01","latest":"2023-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":"first made"},{"date":{"text":"2024","earliest":"2024-01-01","latest":"2024-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"this example"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Cool Crutches and Walking Sticks","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Weight","value":"432","unit":"g","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"walking stick","note":"Cool Crutches website"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"730","unit":"mm","qualifier":"at its shortest","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"walking stick","note":"Cool Crutches website"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"1010","unit":"mm","qualifier":"at its longest","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"walking stick","note":"Cool Crutches website"},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"18","unit":"mm","qualifier":"aluminium cane","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"walking stick","note":"Cool Crutches website"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19","unit":"mm","qualifier":"ferrule","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"walking stick","note":"Cool Crutches website"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This walking stick and associated neoprene grip were displayed in the <i>Design and Disability</i> exhibition at V&A South Kensington (2025–6) and V&A Dundee (2026). They were acquired during the course of the exhibition as a donation from Cool Crutches and Walking Sticks. The company also donated a pair of ‘Classic Diamanté Crutches’ with neoprene grips (the right-hand grip crutch and grip also featured in the exhibition).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"‘Disability Pride Flag Walking Stick’, aluminium, metal, plastic, rubber and vinyl, with neoprene ‘Soft Grip for Walking Sticks’, Cool Crutches, UK, made in Europe, 2023, this example 2024","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Design and Disability</i>, exh. cat., Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2025"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Lisa Joyner, ‘A Life-Changing Accident Left Me Feeling Invisible. Now I Want People to Notice My Crutch: Entrepreneur Amelia Peckham on Making Crutches Cool Again and Empowering the Next Generation’, <i>Country Living </i>website (22 August 2024), https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/countryside/a61895097/amelia-peckham-cool-crutches-interview/"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"1.31\r\n[Blind and Low Vision icon of an eye with diagonal lines on the left and a larger diagonal line going through the middle]\r\nLarge Print Guide\r\n\r\nCustomised walking stick with Disability Pride flag pattern and diamanté encrusted crutches\r\n\r\nMobility aids like crutches and walking sticks are used by all kinds of people. But standard issue mobility aids are designed as a one-style-fits-all, and for many they feel plain and uncomfortable. Cool Crutches, co-founded by Amelia Peckham and Clare Braddel following Peckham’s own spinal injury, create customisable walking sticks and crutches in an array of colours and sizes. Confidence, comfort and self-expression are at the centre of their design principles. \r\n\r\nCool Crutches\r\n2024\r\nMetal, plastic\r\nUnited Kingdom\r\n\r\n<i>Design and Disability</i>exhibition at V&A South Kensington (2025–6) and V&A Dundee (2026)\r\n\r\n","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["T.82:1-2026","T.82:2-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"82","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-08-19","recordCreationDate":"2024-12-13","availableToBook":false}}