Young Designer Had Her Dreams Derailed by a Surprise Diagnosis. Then, She Set Out to Change the Fashion Industry (Exclusive)

Destiny Pinto tells PEOPLE how her design journey has changed in the last year and what's next

• Destiny Pinto is a young designer making a big difference

• After being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, Pinto switched her approach to art and began pursuing assistive fashion design

• Pinto tells PEOPLE what it's been like to get recognition for her trendy pieces, which are both functional and fashionable

A young designer found a way to turn a shocking rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis into the start of a beautiful new chapter.

Destiny Pinto was pursuing a design degree at college in 2021 when she was first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which almost instantly changed her approach to her artistic pursuits.

"It affected my entire body. It affected my hands and the way I was traditionally working with art because I would do digital drawings," she tells PEOPLE.

"My first year of university, I had to think of new ways of design and think of new ways to produce final outcomes for my work," she explains. "That's when I started teaching myself how to virtually design because then I could do everything on my laptop and I could 3D model. It was just a lot easier for me to do with my hands."

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In her third year at school, her current project — which brings fashion's most fun trends to assistive medical devices — began to take shape.

"I decided to start a project in which I take the garments that I wear like compression wear — I wear a lot of compression gloves, ankle compression, things like that — and I reimagined it. I redesigned it for the fashion that I would wear."

Pinto continues, "Around the same time, my best friend also got surgery in which she got a ostomy bag. That kind of inspired the first two pieces — a compression glove for myself and an ostomy bag for her."

Pinto has been on this path for more than a year and is having a blast experimenting with different emerging fashion trends within the context of medical gear.

"When I started, everything was very messy and prototype-like. The initial designs just had me sticking fabric onto the ostomy bag. We played around with that, and for my glove, I sewed it myself," she says.

"We would start by taking Instagram photos and sharing online, but it wasn't reaching a lot of people," she says of her early outreach days. "The people I did reach were people with specific health conditions or who have interest in assistive design. I kept at it and have let that initial sense of purpose drive."

Pinto is now working on custom pieces that involve "walking sticks, diabetes patches, insulin pumps" and more.

"Parents will get in touch with me to create designs for children because it's really difficult for them in a school environment to stand out where people are so easy to bully and whatnot," she shares. "They ask me for a design that incorporates the characters they like or their hobbies, to make wearing medical assistive devices easier for them."

The project has also given Pinto a place to hone her design techniques in a way that she's comfortable with — and allowed more options thanks to her technology-driven ways.

"Because I taught myself virtual fashion, I was able to design things such as prosthetic legs, which I wouldn't easily be able to get a hold of," she says.

The project has also afforded her the opportunity to connect with so many great people looking for designs that accommodate their needs while still keeping to current trends.

"My favorite for my latest pieces has been draping," she says. "Recently, I've been working with a chest binder, so I've draped fabric physically over the binder to create this amazing look to the device."

She continues, "Usually, when you make pieces you have to sit there and sew it for hours and hours and I wouldn't be able to do that. But with the draping I can literally take fabric and just play around with it, and it's been amazing. Then I can even talk to the models that I work with and modify."

Recently, she's been working with model Ezeki (pictured) to bridge the old and the new.

"They are from Ghana, so they are used to traditional pieces and fabrics," Pinto explains. "I was able to talk to them about their culture, about their gender identity and make these pieces customized to them, which was an incredible experience."

Pinto says the feedback to her pieces thus far has been "incredible" and "overwhelming, in the best possible way."

"I'm having as much fun as possible playing around and exploring. I try not to get stressed out or overwhelmed. I have really exciting projects coming up and I can't wait to engage with my audience and learn more about what they want me to create. I love having those conversations with them and getting that input," she says. "The community has been incredibly positive. I'm so happy and so blessed that it's been received so well.

Pinto feels this journey has also aided with her personal growth and "dealing with my own condition."

"It's just helped me so much with validating myself with having rheumatoid arthritis. Sometimes I tend to belittle my own experience, but I'm so glad that I've taken this personal experience and I've created this art that's resonated with so many people," she says.

"Seeing the positive reaction and seeing people so happy to have designs like this in their life, it makes me feel positive for the future," she adds. "There's a possibility for me to make these designs, but also for these designs to be out there for people like myself to purchase. That's really exciting."

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Read the original article on People.