I’ve taken this title directly from Vilissa Thompson’s interview. The interview led me to find a short YouTube video “Ableism Separated Disabled People from Autonomy: Kelly Buckland and Vilissa” (https://youtu.be/lPg-zQbjoQc). Vilissa is inspiring and her movement ‘Ramp Your Voice’ (http://www.rampyourvoice.com/welcome-to-ramp-your-voice/) is powerful in creating awareness for disabled people of colour. Sharing videos and links such as these will create awareness in our student’s perception for diverse communities to co-design, create and develop Bespoke Tailoring products.
The specialism of Bespoke Tailoring is a craft which requires interaction with the customer. To have a positive outcome, there is a synergy between the creative Bespoke Tailor and the client, which we commonly term as ‘Co-Creation’. For there is a dialogue about colour, fit and specific requirements of cloth, to formulate designs.
The reason I chose ‘A rock and a hard place’, is that I am a BAME senior lecturer and growing up as an 80’s child, there was little representation for people of colour on TV, let alone disabled coloured representation. Empowering our students to recognise that we are creative problem solvers, and our responses require us collectively to promote a wider community of diverse clients, being inclusive of those who require specific needs to enable their appreciation in the conversation we all call Fashion.
Image of Vilissa Thompson taken from (http://www.rampyourvoice.com/welcome-to-ramp-your-voice/).