Thomas and Friends Clothing collaborate with National Autistic Society to unveil autism friendly range

The Thomas and Friends brands team has collaborated with the National Autistic Society and Character.com to develop a range of children’s clothing that is autism friendly.

The condition, which affects 1 in 100 people in the world, affects how a person communicates and interacts with the world around them. Autism is unique to each individual and causes an onset of different challenges, with some sufferers being highly sensitive to the texture and colour of certain materials making some clothes uncomfortable and even painful to wear.

The new collaboration features a range of garments emblazoned with beloved children’s character Thomas the Tank Engine.

Karren Hewitt – the co-founder of Character.com – said: “At Character.com, we value charitable relationships and responding to our customers’ needs.

“As a result, we are thrilled to introduce this Thomas and Friends range that Mattel developed in collaboration with the National Autistic Society. The Character.com team are delighted to be selling a range that was unique to the industry and provided our consumers with exactly what they needed. We are thrilled to be able to contribute to such a worthy cause, and we hope that this is the start of many such initiatives from Character.com.”

The National Autistic Society conducted an extensive study with the families of autistic children, and also ran focus groups at the trust’s Helen Allison School in Kent.

The study found that children preferred softer fabric as well as specific colours and the ease of being able to put the clothes on.

The collection was made with the findings of the study in mind and has included soft fabrics as well as loose-fitting T-shirts, jumpers, and tracksuits.

Peter Watt, director, national programs, National Autistic Society, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Thomas and Friends and Character.com to create such an important range of clothing for autistic children and teens.

“Parents and autistic young people often tell us how sensory sensitivities can mean that children on the autism spectrum struggle with certain clothes. For some, a label on a T-shirt, a prominent seam or certain fabrics could be incredibly itchy, distracting or even physically painful. Finding the right clothing can make shopping difficult, time consuming and stressful. So, it’s really great to have the chance to develop this autism-friendly collection.”

The clothing range officially launches on Chatacter.com during World Autism Acceptance Week on 2 April 2022.