JAMIE WINDUST
Activist, writer & public speaker
As a non- binary person, fashion has always played a very important role in my life because it’s a really strong outlet for my gender expression. To me, being non- binary means having absolutely no rules when it comes to gender and I carry that “rule- breaking” through to all my aesthetic choices, from clothes to make- up.
With that in mind, I was very pleased to be invited to sit on the advisory panel for Body Beautiful. This exhibition is hugely important because it takes our conversations around diversity to a new level. The advisory panel includes people from groups whose voices are often drowned out, even in conversations about diversity, funnily enough. In this case however, we’ve had so much input into the exhibition’s content, its tone and text.
One of the things I love about this exhibition is that it really shows the LGBTQIA+ community thriving, doing wonderful work and being incredibly creative. A lot of the conversations taking place at the moment focus on our struggles, or the barriers and prejudices we face. That’s very important in its own right, but in the case of Body Beautiful, it’s great for us to have such a prominent platform which is also hugely positive.
A lot of the work that I’m involved with makes people feel uncomfortable, and I think that discomfort is important. I want people to feel a bit uncomfortable when they visit this exhibition and to really think about why it might make them respond that way. I really hope it will have a lasting impact on the people who visit, perhaps encouraging them to be more open in their thinking and more aware of the different types of people moving alongside them in society.
The increased focus on diversity in fashion is undoubtedly a good thing, but tokenism is rife in the industry, and there’s often a commercialisation of diversity. To combat that I think we need to ensure that diversity begins right from the start of the creative process. It’s not just about hiring diverse models; it’s about all the people behind the scenes, from designers to stylists to photographers. By taking that approach, you get a truly informed product at the end of it.