Trying to make money and not kill the planet. An eternal tightrope we’re all walking. The space between consumption and creativity. I used to think celebrities were pretty lame, now I think that they make life worth living, not because of celebrity culture, or admiration, or obsession, but because they’re people who are really f**king talented, who share their art with the world. And art makes life, it just does. Listening to music in the shower, going to a gallery, watching a film, dressing up, dancing at a gig, these things bring joy, daily pleasures and moments of meaning that weave together to spice up the repetitive, mundane nature of existence. Consumption of art is necessary for my full existence. And so yes, the line is thin, between consumption and self-actualisation. Between living and killing. So then it becomes, from this perspective, less about abstinence and more about consuming ethically. As a consumer, it's important to make informed decisions. As a creative walking the tightrope, being aware that while your artistic pursuit is valid, always, you also have a responsibility in how you make it and how you share it with the world. We have a responsibility to reduce harm. In the words of Toni Cade Bambara, “the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” If you can’t make the revolution irresistible (big up any artist who is) then at least try not to become one of the people whose head would get chopped off on the day of reckoning. Be mindful of your consumption and your creations.
I’ve loved making clothes, it was my first passion. I spent a childhood flicking between a million different hobbies, but clothes were what I stuck with. In between random classes of football, ballet, gymnastics, every Wednesday evening after school I went to my Mum's best friend’s house and I made clothes, from 11 to 16 years old - she taught me everything. Mostly she taught me that whatever it is, I could work it out. Despite this, I didn’t think I'd go into fashion, I think I thought of the space as vacuous and superficial, and harmful. And it can be these things, but it is also art, and therefore, it is what makes life worth living. So… I’m doing it, and I’m trying to do it ethically, in whatever ways that I can, in the context that I’m in.
