I am a fashion historian, lecturer in cultural and historical studies (CHS) at London College of Fashion and a PhD candidate at Goldsmiths, University of London. I'm also the founder and Creative Director of the Costume Institute of the African Diaspora (CIAD), an organisation dedicated to researching the history and culture of dress and adornment from the African diaspora.

The establishment of CIAD came from the work I did for my Churchill Fellowship, which involved learning about national dress and costume in the Caribbean. The purpose was to collate information about the creative innovations and developments of dress cultures in the African diaspora. I have a strong interest in dress cultures and have a connection to this through my family, who always made clothes.

As a result of my Fellowship, in August 2014 I curated Tartan: Its Journey through the African Diaspora – CIAD's first major project, which incorporated the information I had learnt on my travels. This has created great interest internationally and helped me link with cultural custodians and academics across the African diaspora. This is incredibly important as it enables us to knit together our collective history.