When I started in 2017, there were only a couple of British dancewear brands and I think they both imported their clothing from America. So there were no UK-made dancewear brands at the time. They would both do photoshoots with stunning models, which showed how dancewear would look on a stick-thin girl. My aim was to show everyone that even girls that were bigger want to dance, so why shouldn’t they have access to lovely dancewear as well? I really make a point of featuring slightly bigger girls, different shapes, all ethnicities and making it accessible to everyone. Daks : Yes, that’s what I really noticed through looking through the pictures on your site and also talking to Jessie about your ethos of diversity.
Cole : I have people coming up to me at MOVE IT, the big dance convention, and saying “thank you for showing bigger girls what the dancewear can look like on them.” They can actually be involved and they haven’t got to be this set size to wear the dancewear. My daughter was the inspiration. She’s had two open-heart surgeries, she’s got a big scar down the middle of her chest and we’ve always taught her to never cover it up, never to worry about it because it’s part of her, it’s what makes her special. That’s what I’m trying to give to other kids as well, that if you’re slightly bigger or have got a scar it doesn’t matter, it’s what makes you, you. Don’t hide it! Daks : That’s really perfect for what we are doing at the magazine. We’re trying to find people that are doing something special and a bit different from ‘oh we’re making nice clothes.’ We’re looking for inspirational stories, for the unique and rare.
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