@theretheirtheyreshow @ba.design.gold
18-22 JUNE 2026
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
Support As Identity
Kassie (Ksenia) Lebedeva
This project reimagines the medical crutch to support personal expression alongside its clinical function. Designed for people who rely on mobility aids long-term, it introduces a modular system of interchangeable threaded beads that adjust the crutch height and allow for visual customisation.
The project developed from research into how objects shape identity, and how medical devices, which people rarely choose for themselves, can limit opportunities for self-expression.
Inspired by my grandmother’s experience of growing up in a highly standardised Soviet environment and later living in a consumer culture, the work explores the tension between uniformity and individuality. Her collection of beaded jewellery and Russian folk ornaments influenced the visual direction of the design.
Through exploring how crutches could support a user’s identity, as glasses evolved from necessity into a form of self-expression, this project asks how mobility aids might do the same.
The project developed from research into how objects shape identity, and how medical devices, which people rarely choose for themselves, can limit opportunities for self-expression.
Inspired by my grandmother’s experience of growing up in a highly standardised Soviet environment and later living in a consumer culture, the work explores the tension between uniformity and individuality. Her collection of beaded jewellery and Russian folk ornaments influenced the visual direction of the design.
Through exploring how crutches could support a user’s identity, as glasses evolved from necessity into a form of self-expression, this project asks how mobility aids might do the same.
| Crutches |
| Standardisation |
| Identity |
Thanks, Thanks, Thanks