Yorkshire lad Luke Christian launches his new fashion brand: DEAF IDENTITY
Being born deaf, Luke Christian wants to push boundaries to show that deafness has a wide spectrum whether it be communicating through Sign Language (BSL, SSE, and ISL), communicating orally, or being CODA (Child of deaf adult).
DEAF IDENTITY was founded in September 2019 and #TeamCoco are loving the designs. Luke realised more needed to be done to raise awareness of being deaf, so put his love for fashion to the test. Available worldwide, anyone will be able to ‘build a t-shirt’ and personalise it in British Sign Language. Luke wanted to bring something fresh, exciting, modern and relevant and to shake up the way people think of the deaf community. The t-shirts are a range of sizes to suit men, women and children as little as one year old.
Luke said, “In a world where diversity is being celebrated and shown throughout various media outlets, I was yet to see any deaf awareness, until now.
Being born deaf into a deaf family, where the deaf gene is prominent, was pretty tough. I never had a deaf role model to look up to in the media or a deaf group to identify with, and I always felt my deafness was up for debate. I often got told ‘You wear hearing aids so you’re deaf.’ And ‘Ugh, never mind, it doesn’t matter.’ or the opposite, ‘Well you don’t look deaf.’ and ‘If you can’t sign then you’re not really deaf.’ It really affected my confidence.”
Luke wants to make it clear that there is no right or wrong way of being deaf and that it’s time that deafness got recognised and spoken about. He hopes through his brand DEAF IDENTIFY and his blog where he talks about life, fashion and beauty, he can break down some barriers.
The t-shirts start from kidswear priced at £16 (1-2 years to 12-14 years), Womenswear £26 (XS-XXL) and Menswear £26 (XS-XXL). Available from www.deafidentity.com.
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