Some press mentions make you grin, take a screenshot and send it to your mum. This one made me sit very still for a minute.
When The Curvy Fashionista asked me to tell the FOKE story in my own words, they did not want a neat little paragraph about colourful dresses. They asked about the body changes, the grief, the art and why I am so bloody determined to make clothes that let women get on with living.
Telling the truth properly
I was thrilled. Obviously. I was also properly nervous. It is one thing to talk about a dress. It is another to write about my sister Amber, finding out I carry BRCA2, discovering I had DCIS with an eight month old baby on my hip, having a double mastectomy and deciding to live flat.
Those experiences are part of FOKE, but I never want to turn them into a tragic little brand story with a tidy bow on top. Life was not tidy. Grief was not tidy. Finding my way back to drawing was not tidy either. The Curvy Fashionista gave me room to tell that truth without sanding off the uncomfortable bits.
FOKE is not only for women living flat, but it never forgets we exist.
They understood the actual point
What got me was that they understood FOKE is not about hiding a body or fixing one. I design from inside a plus size body and a flat body. I think about weight, drape, movement, necklines and how secure you feel when you bend over at the park—not because women need camouflaging, but because clothes should do their bloody job and let us get on with ours.
Why this feature mattered
The Curvy Fashionista has spent years telling plus size women that they are not an afterthought. Being introduced to that community felt different from a quick press mention. Their editor understood the problem before I finished explaining it, and did not frame my flat chest as something sad or strange. It was simply part of my body, my design brain and the way I move through the world.
I am proud of the feature, but proudest that I did not water the story down to get there. The original goes much deeper into my story, the practical details I design into FOKE pieces and why colour became part of how I choose to live.
