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Organised in partnership with London Fashion Week and artist and designer Osman Yousefzada, this discussion explores the dialogue of beauty; what it means, what it costs, the power dynamics that surround it, and its accessibility.
Inspired by the themes in Whitechapel Gallery’s spring show, Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium, and the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion Pillar of ‘Equality and Diversity’, the panel curated by Osman is chaired by environmental journalist, writer and BBC reporter, Lucy Siegle. The panel consists of Keshia Hannam, performance-speaker and co-founder of women’s movement Camel Assembly & former journalist, international supermodel, broadcaster and curator Eunice Olumide MBE and Caryn Franklin MBE, former fashion editor and co-editor of i-D Magazine.
The panel discussion starts with a screening of Osman Yousefzada’s provocative art film ‘Her dreams are bigger’.
*Don’t forget – this ticket does not guarantee a place at the event. Admission is on a first come, first served basis for ticket-holders. As we are offering this event free of charge, we have to significantly overbook to allow for no-shows and to avoid having any empty seats which could otherwise be enjoyed by those who would like to attend. We therefore recommend that you arrive 10 minutes before the start of the event to avoid disappointment. We reserve the right to refuse entry.
Event organised in partnership with London Fashion Week
The gallery’s lead spring exhibition brings together a new generation of artists who represent the body in radical ways to tell stories and explore vital social concerns. The exhibition features: Michael Armitage, Cecily Brown, Nicole Eisenman, Sanya Kantarovsky, Tala Madani, Ryan Mosley, Christina Quarles, Daniel Richter, Dana Schutz and Tschbalala Self
Osman Yousefzada works at the intersection of art and fashion, combining his multi-disciplinary design practice with a strong sense of social commentary. His work is shaped by a personal consideration of the contemporary fashion world and the industry’s inherent inequalities, juxtaposed with representations associate d with the experience of immigration.
Since launching his eponymous label in 2008, Osman has forged a niche in luxury womenswear with an intellectual approach to design, exploring and cross pollinating with other creative disciplines, garnering numerous awards. He is one of the brightest stars in international fashion. With the opening of the House of Osman in Fitzrovia in 2018, in a historic Georgian townhouse in Fitzrovia, he unveiled a vision of the future of his brand – a holistic world of art and design.
Lucy Siegle is a British journalist and writer on environmental issues and a reporter on The One Show.
After working for a textile company in South London, Siegle joined The Observer magazine (then Life magazine) as an administrator in 2000. She has said she had no ambitions to write at the time but that the editorial team nurtured her ability and were enthused by her interest in environmental issues. She wrote her first feature in 2001 on London’s new Civil Partnerships and then has gone on to write articles, features and op ed pieces for the Guardian group, among other publications on themes of environmental and social justice.
Siegle is a reporter on the nightly BBC One programme The One Show, having joined in 2007. In 2009 and 2012, she stood in as co-presenter of The One Show on several occasions. She speaks on environmental issues on Sky News and Good Morning Britain.
Siegle has chaired several debates on the fashion industry in the House of Commons and House of Lords taken part in main stage debates at the Royal Society and in 2016 interviewed both Dame Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney live on stage, the latter as part of the Kering sustainability Awards in London.
Keshia Hannam is a former journalist and now performance-speaker. The co-founder of women’s movement Camel Assembly, a global collective of activists and artists, and a storyteller with media company Dear World, Keshia has spoken for The New York Times, Fortune 500 companies like Marriott and Macy’s, and last year at The United Nations. She has contributed regularly to National Geographic, Fortune, Forbes, & CNN amongst others, and delivers performance-based keynotes to universities, conferences and art-based events all over the country and world.
Born in Edinburgh, Scottish Supermodel Eunice Olumide has worked across the world including UK, U.S.A, Africa, Japan, France, Italy, Holland, Spain Germany and the UAE. She has appeared in both national and international campaigns, fashion weeks and editorials from Collectible DRY, WAD, ID Magazine, Dazed & Confused, Oyster, Paper Cut, New York Magazine, to Vogue, Italian Vogue, Bahrain Confidential, Tatler, Harpers Bazaar, and many more. Walking for designer’s including Mulberry, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, and Harris Tweed.
After the success of ‘Music Match’ on BBC Radio, she went on to star in and produce the UK’s first ever award winning podcast dedicated to women of colour on BBC Radio 5 Live called the ‘Sista Collective’. Interviewing world heavyweights in film, fashion and television including Amma Asante. She has toured in the UK, USA and EU as a DJ at festivals and gala’s from Gotha, Websterhall, Lovebox, Glastonbury, opening for music legends such as Grace Jones.
Caryn Franklin MBE, MSc (Psyche) MBPsS – former fashion editor and co-editor of i-D Magazine and prime-time BBC TV presenter throughout the eighties and nineties, is a multi-platform broadcaster, fashion and identity commentator and activist. In nearly four decades of practice Caryn has explored the politics of image and self-esteem through commercial, educational and activist positions with projects involving international design names and everyday users of fashion as well as refugees in battle zones, workers in free-trade-zone slums, mental-health and body-image experts, MP’s and Government.
She takes a keen interest in sustainability both material and emotional and has written for numerous magazines, newspapers and websites, produced 4 books, authored many TV shows and documentaries on fashion and co-created groundbreaking campaigns such Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and the multi-award winning All Walks Beyond the Catwalk. In recent years and with an MSc in applied psychology, specialising in selfhood, gender, inclusivity and bias, Caryn also consults with commercial brands, corporate leadership initiatives as well as progressive educational institutions internationally. She is a visiting lecturer, holding both honorary fellowship and doctorate posts, and is visiting professor at Kingston School of Art.
