The zero waste originator in my family. My mum made this dress for me as she made loads of my outfits when I was smaller. Never a scrap of material was wasted. Upcycled. Hand made. Made With Love by Ghana. Zoom in to full appreciate this piece.

I’m a British-born woman from Ghanaian parents. My father, son of a Northern Ghanaian Chief and my mother, a Southern born Ewe’ woman, of a line of industrious matriarchs. She was known as a child to cry for hours over a dress she was not happy to wear for a function, and would happily, and discreetly, take scissors to its amend. Sustainability has got so personal recently and I’ve definitely awakened to sharing more of my views that I’ve often held back. I’ve not always known WHAT I want to say that devolves from my personal views, but I’ve started to realise that sometimes the WHAT is determined by the WHO. i.e WHO are you? Where are you from? You need to know that to determine the WHAT and the WHY. Capitals needed for emphasis.

So shout out to my mum. The originator of my sustainable fashion journey. I wrote about Ghana and its inherent sustainability on my website, you can find it in Archive Stories. A lot of the work I have done with @RedCarpetGreenDress has been around putting a spotlight on culture, and asking people to make their own connections with sustainability, based on their own upbringing and experiences. Your own lens on sustainability is crucial if you want to have a meaningful relationship with it. Especially relevant for black people and POC right now who are redefining their ownership of spaces and movements