No Shame In The Game

by Aswan Magumbe for The F Word magazine (click for the full article)

Shashamani Jackson is a budding knitwear designer in the second year of her BA at Central Saint Martins. She talks to Aswan Magumbe about her unapologetic approach to Blackness, boldness and braiding.

It was a tumultuous A-level Textiles experience that sparked the beginning of Shashamani Jackson’s ascension to knitwear design. With the sudden departure of her textile’s teacher and a shocking knock to class grades, she began working tirelessly to defeat the odds and come out on top.

“I want my garments to be appreciated by the people they’re intended for; people who are unwavering in being themselves and finding joy in that,” she says. 21-year-old Jackson bursts with colour – her Instagram even, is a digital oozing of un-apologetic Blackness.

Weaving the box-braiding technique commonly applied to Black hair to her garments, she pays direct homage to her Grenadian heritage. “My hair is what in-spires all my designs,” says Jackson.

To her detriment, Jackson left all of her sewing equipment in London when she returned home to Wolverhampton during the lockdown, admitting she didn’t think this period would be as long. “I had to learn how to crochet and develop more and more hands-on techniques”, she says. These skills were put to the test in her end of year collection Wrestle Braidia. The collection, which she filmed (currently unreleased), reflects on a time where she felt the need to protect herself after having received unwanted attention and harassment for her coloured box braids, forcing her into the safety net of a socially-accepted hair colour, shielded from external harshness. “I remember feeling upset that I couldn’t be as bold and bright as my childhood days. I saw this viral video of [WWE Wrestler] Naomi and she was everything I wanted to be at the time – confident, unapologetic, bold,” she reminisced. “In the moment, I felt like she was protecting me and all the other Black girls who dared to be different.”