DEAF IDENTITY was founded in September 2019 and in a world where diversity is being celebrated and shown throughout various media outlets, i was still yet to see any deaf awareness, until now.

Being born deaf into a deaf family where the deaf gene is prominent, i wanted to mix my love for fashion whilst raising deaf awareness! Growing up, i never had a deaf role model or a deaf group to identify with and i always felt that my deafness was up for debate.

‘Well you wear hearing aids so you’re deaf’. / ‘Well you don’t look deaf’. / ‘If you can’t sign then you’re not really deaf’. / ‘Turn your hearing aids up, I’m not repeating myself again’. / ‘You’re not that deaf because you can speak to me and have good speech’. / ‘Ugh, never mind it doesn’t matter’.

i want to show that deafness has a wide spectrum whether it be through Sign Language (BSL, SSE and ISL) communicating orally, or being known as ‘CODA’ (Children of deaf adults.)

i want to make it emphatically clear that there is no right or wrong way of being deaf, and that we will no longer be dismissed or told ‘never mind, it doesn’t matter.’

It’s time deafness got recognised, spoken about and heard.

DEAF IDENTITY® is a regiStered Trademark.