INTERVIEW: Destiny Pinto Talks Viral Medical Devices as Fashion Accessories

In the world of medical accessories, style has often taken a backseat to function—until now. The United Kingdom designer Destiny Pinto is revolutionizing this space with her unique line of fashionable medical wearables, from ostomy bag covers to hearing-aid embellishments and chic compression gloves. Her mission? To blend practicality with empowerment, helping individuals feel confident, stylish, and comfortable in their own skin.

The growing designer took to Instagram and created reels showcasing her fashionable medical wearables, drawing attention to the previously overlooked potential of these accessories. Her creative approach of combining stunning visuals with an authentic message resonated with audiences worldwide. In no time, her reels went viral, reaching thousands of views and growing her brand to greater recognition. As a result, Pinto has gained a loyal community of followers, many of whom share their own experiences of living with chronic conditions, expressing how her designs have inspired them to embrace their medical devices as part of their style.

The designer, who is set to partner with major names in the medical industry, joined us at Glitter Magazine for her first-ever interview.

SONYA: Destiny, welcome to Glitter. Thank you so much for meeting with us today! How are you? 

DESTINY: Thank you. I am so excited to be here with you today. 

SONYA: So, as many of us saw on your viral video, the beautifully designed Ostomy Bag covers you designed for your best friend—I mean, what inspired you to essentially start or begin designing medical-grade fashion accessories? 

DESTINY: So, what inspired me was my own experience with having rheumatoid arthritis and wearing a clinical-looking compression glove. And also at the time, my best friend recently got a Stoma bag, and she was also wearing a very clinical-looking bag, and what was out there was very childish-looking. We just wanted to elevate that and bring it into fashion.

SONYA: I love that you were able to kind of innovate this new design—there’s a brand here and it’s so empowering, I love it, so could you walk us through a little bit more about your design process? I mean, how do you balance practicality with creativity in your designs? 

DESTINY: So, what I do is I first start the designs by talking to the people that wear it, see what they want, see what’s out there, what’s missing, and then I kind of just use the medical device or the medical devices’ covers as like a canvas to kind of just go crazy with designing on it. 

SONYA: That’s incredible, and I love that you’re able to be so expressive with your designs. Where would you say that you draw your inspiration from when creating these new designs? 

DESTINY: I draw my inspiration from just what’s already out there in fashion, what’s trending; I also draw it from accessories that I wear myself because I know those already go with common outfits that I wear, so I’m like my medical device needs to be similar to this. 

SONYA: And with your designs—do you have any background knowledge in the medical field? Did you go to school, or where did you go to school? How did you get to where you are?

DESTINY: No, I’m just purely a designer; I don’t have any medical background. I need to state that, but I do have a lot of people around me that do have a background in medicine, like my mom, who is a microbiologist, and she has just been so helpful with getting me everything I need. From my own condition, and she just helps me with so much 

SONYA: That’s inspiring, and I love how your family has been a part of your creativity regarding your medical journey. How has the medical community or those using your designs responded to your work so far? 

DESTINY: They are big, big fans, I never expected my DMs to be flooded with actual doctors or nurses, but they love it so much, and they just love showing it to their patients that are wearing these devices, and it’s just been great to even get advice or anything I need to speak to them.

SONYA: Do you plan on having doctors and medical offices carry your products in their offices?

DESTINY: I think in the future ,I would love that. I feel like it’d be so helpful for people that recently got a Stoma bag or are wearing these medical devices to know that there are options out there that include fashion and design. 

SONYA: I couldn’t agree with you more. Have you had any meaningful stories from any customers who have stood out to you?

DESTINY: Not customers per se, but in regards to my audience, I’ve got messages; for example, I have one here that a nurse told me that she showed my designs to a patient a few months back who had a resection for colon cancer. She said that she was really struggling, and when she showed her my designs, my virtual designs, she got a new perspective and just felt so much better and not alone, which was amazing. 

SONYA: That’s seriously—that’s great. I can’t imagine the excitement and joy your products will give to these patients. So when you’re referring to this nurse, who’s empowering these patients with your medical accessories, would you say that definitely contributes to that source of empowerment? Do you think your designs contribute to improving the confidence or the lifestyle of individuals who use your medical accessories? And is that essentially your goal here? How do you think your designs contribute to improving the confidence or the lifestyle of individuals who use your medical accessories? 

SONYA: One thousand percent I’m a strong believer in things like look-good, feel-good, and especially with my brand. I hope to normalize the experience of wearing medical devices by essentially turning them into accessories. It can just de-stigmatize the fact that you’re wearing medical devices so much, and it will help so many people, showing the benefits of these products rather than them wanting to hide it or be ashamed of it when they should not.

SONYA: Yes, absolutely, and when you first began this business, I can understand that you were a design major and you continued with design. As opposed to having no medical background, have you received any kind of backlash from that being that you aren’t necessarily a medical expert or have medical experts expressed that you were underqualified for doing so? 

DESTINY: Not really any kind of backlash; I feel like people are just really happy that I’ve taken the initiative because a lot of people just fail to even take that step. I think there was concern about the functionality of some of my devices, but I’m always saying—I’m so willing to learn while doing this, and I’m just always looking to refine the designs and be connected to the customers that use them, and hopefully I’m just going to get better and better with all of this help and advice from people.

SONYA: Were there any challenges that you first encountered upon starting this business? Or was there anything that kind of prevented you from taking off, or what did it first look like for you when you first launched?

DESTINY: I think it was more of me not being able to always create physical things because I started off with just virtual design, but I think as the brand has grown, I’ve been able to use that to my advantage by collaborating with actual artists or fashion designers. And they have just taken it to a whole other level that I would not have been able to do by myself, so I think just use every option that you have, and I think that’s what I’ve been able to do as a new journey and an opportunity.

SONYA: Right, and I know we already dived into where you see your brand going in the future, especially doctor’s offices and being able to help patients, so how would you say that your brand has evolved since you began designing and where do you see it going in the future outside of your known medical practices? Do you envision your products outside of medical practices and in stores? And does it take part in what your goals are in the future?

DESTINY: 1,000 percent. I feel like I had a big vision when I first started this brand, and social media growth has helped me accomplish that so much because now I have such a big community, and I’m able to do that not only by opening a shop for people to buy these pieces that they really need, but also I’m able to create a platform for everyone to come together and talk about their conditions, talk about their disabilities, talk about their medical devices, and normalize it. And that is one of the goals: to be a platform for help when people get diagnosed or when people are living with things like this. 

SONYA: I love how you find this way to kind of bond and connect, you know everyone, because regardless of the condition at hand, it seems as though fashion at the end here is something we can all relate to in terms of expression and empowerment, and I couldn’t agree with you more, and so when it comes down to the change of perception of medical accessories, what role would you say that fashion does play in that transformation or in that role?

DESTINY: I think it just gives people their confidence back and they are able to have fun with it instead of being anxious because anxiety is something that I’ve experienced a lot when it came to my condition, so being able to change that into something fun and something you can celebrate rather than hide, I feel like that’s what I’d want to do.

SONYA: And coming from more of a personal reflection standpoint, I mean, what does success look like for you at this moment? How do you measure the impact of your work? 

DESTINY: I think it’s genuinely going to just be the amount of people that I’ve helped and to just make any sort of good change in the world for the better. I feel like that would just fulfill all my purposes for the brand. 

SONYA: Yes, I love that. And what advice do you think you would give to somebody who would like to branch out into this career of design? 

DESTINY: I think, always be willing to learn. Learn, learn, learn. You’re going to make mistakes; I’m going to make mistakes, but just learn from your own experiences, learn from the customers that you’re trying to serve, and learn from your mistakes, which I feel like is the most important thing. 

SONYA: Most definitely. Is there anything that we can expect within the next few months to look forward to, or are there any new designs coming out by Miss Destiny Pinto? 

DESTINY: There will be a lot of exciting things coming out. So, I’m very excited for that, and you guys hopefully will be too.

SONYA: Most definitely, I mean—we’re already excited regardless. We’re now approaching this new generation where we’re seeing some more viral breakthroughs and they’re taking place on social media platforms, and it’s just incredible to see individuals are really putting out things that they see a gap in and they need to address. And the video you posted about creating these beautiful Ostomy bags for your best friend grabbed so many people’s attention. How did everything change for you?

DESTINY: I think it changed for the better for so many reasons. I think it’s going to help the brand so much, and whatever partnerships or collaborations have come from it, I feel like it’s going to be so great for the brand to build it as a platform to build it for people to be able to buy more products and just have a place that’s going to help them. I think everything that’s going to happen is going to be true to the brand and what the vision is for the brand. 

SONYA: Well, Destiny, what you were doing is a big thank you from all of us. You know, there’s so many women who really look into fashion as a source of empowerment, as a source of confidence. Your brand speaks to such a wide audience, and I really can’t wait for what you’re going to accomplish here. I think it’s going to be huge, and this will not be your first magazine interview. I am so excited about what’s coming for you, so with that, thank you so much for meeting with me today. 

DESTINY: It was my pleasure, and what I would say is that this has helped me so much myself that I can only use that as a tool to help so many other people as well, hopefully. Thank you so much; it was a pleasure.