Paul Taswell

But, you know, how I design is very much informed by

You know, the portraits of my family through the ages, you know, from the turn of the century and before, up until that contemporary time.

And seeing how my family chose to present themselves, which was usually in a formal way, especially if it was going to be for a photograph.

I do.

I do.

Yeah, we've kept a lot of it.

Yeah.

You know, and that has informed, you know, when I remember, you know, a photograph of my great-grandmother and my great-grandfather and my grandmother as a little girl and grandaunt that you were talking about who was president at Bennett.

It was a beautiful turn-of-the-century family with, you know, my great-grandmother had this large hat and

My great-grandfather had this amazing Homburg on, and, you know, so that sparked my interest in period clothing in my home, and then how it expanded into researching, you know, so what was, you know, she was wearing a corset, obviously, and her clothes were created in a very specific way, and my great-grandfather's clothes were tailored in a very specific way according to the period because they were dressing to...

armored themselves up for the world.

I mean, they wanted to be seen in a certain light, kind of Black families who have arrived.

They've migrated from the South, and they've now arrived to the North, and they are respectable people with dignity.

And the idea of

You know, you've got one pair of shoes and you make sure those shoes are shined when you're going out into the world, just downtown, because you want to be seen in a certain light by both, you know, the black community and the white community.

You know, you're going to put forward your dignity by what you're wearing on your body.

And that became a really powerful message for me.

And, you know, I still think about it.

You know, that's how I show up.

I show up in a very intentional way.