Whilst Communications Manager at FAD Charity (Fashion Awareness Direct), I worked with the team to produce and launch the Black Icons project, a free magazine created by a London youth group, celebrating Black Icons from the British Jazz Age.

FAD run workshops and projects across London to help disadvantaged young people succeed in the fashion industry, campaigning for fair access, improved diversity and better representation. Black Icons was a multi faceted project designed to inspire people from all backgrounds with a creative exploration of Black British heritage. This unique project enabled 16-19 year olds to conduct hands-on research with original source material from the Black Cultural Archives, as well as speaking to some of the UK’s most respected experts, including Stephen Bourne and Gary Crosby OBE, to inform their investigations. The young people then designed and printed textiles, inspired by East African Kangas, to celebrate their chosen Black Icons. These cloths were then styled and modelled by the young people themselves, providing the images that illustrate the inspiring life stories they wrote for the magazine.

The project was presented at the House of Lords in 2017 and the magazine is preserved in the archives of the INVIVA Library and the Black Cultural Archives.