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IN TOUCH – Vogue and the British Museum

TX:Ìý 16.05.2023Ìý 2040-2100

PRESENTER:Ìý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý PETER WHITE

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PRODUCER:ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý BETH HEMMINGS

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Music

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White

Right… we have here model Naomi Campbell holding what I’m told is a peach-coloured mini-bag by Fendi.Ìý I’m not quite sure if peach is quite my colour and this certainly isn’t my usual reading matter but I persist.Ìý Just opposite there’s this article ‘Rave New World:Ìý This festival season play the field in chic headline worthy apparel’.Ìý

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Well, what I can say is this is the first time I’ve been able to read British Vogue in braille and this month’s edition has disability all over it.Ìý It’s very much the brainchild of British Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief.

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Music

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Enninful

Fashion to me is indissociable from larger cultural and political trends.Ìý But British Vogue was increasingly distant from the culture it claimed to represent.Ìý I wanted the magazine to redefine the notion of society, so that it was no longer a byword for the upper crust but simply a reference to British society at large.Ìý We would not be exclusive and prescriptive but inclusive on every page.

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White

Edward Enninful, born in Ghana and describing there his own thoughts on being offered the job of Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue in 2017.Ìý A magazine, thought of then, again in his own word ‘as a white woman’s magazine’.Ìý But this month’s issue called Reframing Fashion, shows just how much he’s extended that idea of inclusivity.Ìý Full, as it is, of text about and photographs of people with a whole range of disabilities.Ìý And now it’s available, for the first time, in braille and audio formats.

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Well, we’ll hear more from Edward Enninful later but first, we’re concentrating on two visually impaired women – Jessikah Inaba, who is the first blind black woman to become a barrister and was featured in the magazine, not to mention on this programme a few months ago and artist, Kimberley Burrows, keen fashionista and now potential consumer.

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Just by way of introduction can I get you both to explain your connection to this edition of British Vogue.Ìý JessikahÌýfirst – they approached you, I think.

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Inaba

Yes, so I was approached by the talent casting manager who told me back in November of last year that they have a project and they would love for me to be a part of it.Ìý I was, obviously, interested straightaway – I thought British Vogue, oh wow, how can I assist in a project in British Vogue.Ìý It was a very, very thrilling experience.

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White

But can I ask you – had you ever read Vogue?

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Inaba

I hadn’t, the only reason I hadn’t is because it was never really accessible.

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White

Right, okay, well we’ll come back to that and indeed what the modelling process was like for you.Ìý But Kimberly, how about you, because I think you’d describe yourself as a fashionista, I think you’re very keen on fashion but, again, presumably, Vogue magazine – not all that accessible to you either?

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Burrows

No absolutely not.Ìý This is the first copy of British Vogue that I have read as it’s the first edition available in braille.Ìý It interested me not only because of the accessible format but because of the content and the powerful stories within.Ìý I first came across it on Instagram and I listened to these really wonderful and uplifting stories and I was like – oh my goodness, how can I get a copy of this magazine – and I ordered it, to hold it in my hands and have this tangible object and to be able to read it is such a powerful feeling.

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White

Right, well I’ve said you’re an artist, so we’re going to come on to that in a moment.Ìý Just before we do that, let’s just pause for a moment to hear a bit more from the man whose vision this is.

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Enninful

I have invisible disability, I have eye issues and hearing issues, as well as blood disorders, so it’s also quite personal.Ìý In the past we have sort have used the safer models and I always believe that it can never be a one-time thing, it can never be like – okay, we’ve done this, the disability issue, we’re done, it’s a continuous conversation like anything in life.Ìý And the more you repeat things, the more people become aware.Ìý So, with all the learnings that we have learnt sort of with this issue – whether it’s access to studios, whether it’s access to events, whether it’s access to photoshoots we’re going to take that and move it on with every issue.Ìý And as technology develops, as well, we’ll be able to sort of help more sort of disabled people because being disabled is not one thing, it’s so many different disabilities.Ìý So, yeah, but we’re learning, I’m not saying we’re perfect in any way but we’re learning, the team is learning.Ìý And for me British Vogue really – when you come into the pages of the magazine you have to feel – you have to feel welcome.Ìý And I always believe that if you can see it, you can be it.Ìý So, for me, it’s very paramount to show that the fashion industry can be inclusive.

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White

Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful, speaking on the Today programme.

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So, Kimberly you’ve said you’re interested in fashion, since losing your sight, because you lost a lot of that sight in 2018, what have you been missing?

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Burrows

Yeah, I’ve definitely missed out on trends and I don’t really know what is trendy anymore, so I just tend to just stick with what I know, in terms of makeup and with clothes and brands.Ìý I try not to traverse too far into the unknown.Ìý The main take away from the magazine is that this is such a significant step forward in the fight for inclusivity and equality in the fashion industry, it sends such a powerful message that everyone deserves to be seen and celebrated for who they are.Ìý And it’s a call to action for the fashion industry to do better and to uplift and celebrate and represent all individuals with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

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White

Can I ask you how you read it?

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Burrows

So, I accessed the braille version.

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White

Well, as we’ve mentioned, it is also available in audio format and for those who may prefer that, here’s what it sounds like:

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British Vogue – Audio Format

Cover information:Ìý Coronation special by Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Munroe Bergdorf, Joan Collins.Ìý Summer romance:Ìý gorgeous looks from Siren Gowns to sizzling prints.Ìý Sinéad Burke:Ìý Reframing fashion, dynamic daring and disabled.Ìý From top:Ìý Gold ring with black design on outside of ring.Ìý Large oval, also black, with a cross like a compass, £2,375.

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White

Well, you can read it but probably can’t afford it, can you, especially that ring? [Laughter]Ìý Jessikah, just tell me a bit about the experience of actually being dressed, as it were, because you are a model and I think that was a completely new experience for you, so what was that like?

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Inaba

Oh it was an awesome experience.Ìý I had Fran and Tony on my makeup, they were amazing and I had Anna on my head and she was wonderful.Ìý I had a few other people – there were too many names to remember but everyone was so welcoming and everyone was describing everything that they were doing.Ìý So, my makeup artists were explaining the type of products they were using, they were explaining the brush they were using to apply it.Ìý So, from that experience I took away a lot of makeup skills that I’ve since been able to use and develop for myself.Ìý The clothes themselves, I was able to try on a few different clothes and the colours of the dresses were described to me.Ìý And the shoes and the jewellery – everything was described to me.Ìý And, ultimately, I was able to make a decision of what dress I wanted to wear out of the dresses that I tried on, what felt most comfortable and what looked better.

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White

Well, look, we can help you relive this, in terms of the one you actually chose:

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British Vogue – Audio Format

JessikahÌýwears a royal blue dress with thin shoulder straps.Ìý The dress flares out at the bottom of the dress.Ìý Gold and diamond pendant necklace, silver gold lacquer and topaz ring.

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White

There you go.Ìý So, did you think you’d chosen the wrong profession, maybe you could go into modelling?

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Inaba

Well, I mean it’s nice to be able to do both.Ìý I mean a year ago had someone told me that I would appear in British Vogue with Naomi Campbell on the cover, I would have said – yeah, you’re having a laugh mate.Ìý So, it’s amazing to be able to do both and to be able to reframe fashion and to meet so many inspirational people.Ìý I met Sinéad Burke, who is, I think, the founder of Tilting the Lens and it was nice of her to create this opportunity for us.Ìý

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White

Let me bring in Kimberly, you’re probably green with envy now because you didn’t get this modelling chance but you have got more involved, I think, in fashion through your art.Ìý Can you just explain there what opportunities has the art opened up for you?

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Burrows

I have yes.Ìý I share my work online through Instagram and last year Warehouse got in touch with me and were interested in a number of my paintings and wanted to put them on a limited-edition range of party wear and occasion wear.Ìý And it was just such a wonderful opportunity to change the context of where the paintings came from originally, which I started painting in the pandemic as a form of art therapy for myself and to kind of change that and turn it into something more, like a celebration and for beautiful women to wear this and celebrate really wonderful occasions in their lives, I absolutely jumped at the chance to do that.

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White

Can I just get you to explain that a bit more because, as I said, we’ve established that you lost a lot of your sight in 2018, are you painting from memory?

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Burrows

So, I choose colours from random, usually what’s closest to me or I use an app on my phone, sometimes, if I want something more specific.Ìý I have two different apps on my phone that can tell me what a colour is, I do retain the memory and it will read aloud the label and what the colour is.Ìý And I tend to use three or four colours together and then, yeah, just gesturally and in a very abstract expressionist way create…

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White

But presumably you didn’t expect this to be picked up by a clothing company?

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Burrows

Not at all, no, just did it for myself and to finish my degree to start with and now I’m doing my post-grad masters degree at the Royal College of Art.

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White

This is not so much on the magazine but really how you deal with your own fashion.Ìý Jessikah, how much do you have to depend on sighted people for your ideas about fashion, about what suits you, matching outfits, colour palettes, you know all that sort of thing because a sighted person will probably just say – oh yeah, that suits you – but you have to trust them presumably.

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Inaba

Absolutely.Ìý I found that more and more, with regards, to clothes, I’ve become a lot more independent especially during the pandemic and being forced to have shop online.Ìý I’ve found a strategy with clothes with certain websites they have descriptions which helps me in my decision.Ìý I tend to pick a lot of co-ords – so matching bottoms and tops – or I would go for jumpsuits because that’s a one-piece outfit or a dress, which is a one-piece outfit.Ìý When it comes to makeup, that’s a little bit harder because as a black woman, already, there is not a lot on the makeup market for my type of skin tone.

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White

I mean it is one thing to read this magazine as a novelty, I just wonder how much do you think you’d get it regularly?Ìý At the moment, we’re told, it will be produced for a year in braille and audio formats, so I guess that’s a sign that they’re looking to test the market in a way, do you think they’ll be a demand for it?

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Inaba

Having been the first ever person to complete the bar using braille, and now becoming the first ever person or the first ever blind person to appear on the first ever braille issue of Vogue, it just seems right to continue to support it because I am very passionate about people learning braille and I do hope that in this very digital society more visually impaired people stop to actually make time to read braille.Ìý And I do also hope to promote braille so that in the future it can become part of the national curriculum.Ìý So, it’s definitely something that I will – I will be pushing.

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White

One more question Jess, did they let you keep the dress?

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Inaba

They didn’t.

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White

Oh really.Ìý Shame on them.Ìý Well, look, thank you both very much indeed – Jessikah Inaba and Kimberly Burrows, thanks for coming on.Ìý If you’d like to read it, you can either be sent the audio file which you can then braille at home for free or to register your interest in receiving a physical braille copy, you can email accessiblevogue@condenast – that’s c o n d e n a s t – .co.uk.Ìý And that email address is on our website.

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And now for another remarkable woman.Ìý American disability rights lawyer, Haben Girma, has the dual disabilities of blindness and deafness, she’s in fact totally blind and profoundly deaf but it’s never stopped her from doing what she wanted, like being the first deafblind person to qualify from the prestigious Harvard Law School.Ìý And she’s described her dual disability as ‘an opportunity for innovation’.

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But recently, on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service, she’s been reflecting on a few unexpected access issues at the British Museum.

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Girma

I had no idea Londoners obsess over canine attire.Ìý Many service dogs have neon green vests and many guide dogs wear white harnesses with large neon signs.Ìý But UK and US laws don’t require assistance dogs to wear specific colours or textiles.Ìý In America we have over a dozen different guide dog schools and each one has a unique harness.Ìý My Milo graduated from the Seeing Eye, the world’s oldest guide dog school.Ìý It’s the training that makes a guide dog not the outfit.Ìý

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The officer not only let’s us in but invites us to skip the queue.Ìý Queue hopping spreads heated debate in the blind community.Ìý We want equality not special treatment.Ìý Deafblindness doesn’t prevent me from standing in lines and normally I do, unless someone insults my dog.Ìý

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Inside the museum I approach an exhibit, Milo stands patiently beside me as my fingers glide over an Egyptian foot, signs throughout the room prohibit touching, that ban is for the sighted, only blind people can touch ancient treasures.Ìý I continue through the museum, delighted in all the history at my fingertips.Ìý This large sculpture, the Sacred Boat of Queen Mutemwia, it’s from 1400 BCE.Ìý Striving to read the stories, I gently slide my fingers over this tribute to an Egyptian Queen, suddenly jab – jab – my arm gets stabbed by an angry finger, Milo looks up in alarm, the person curiously gestures at the ‘Don’t Touch’ sign, I don’t see them of course and turn back to the sculpture.Ìý A museum employee stops the raging anxiety explaining that blind people are allowed to touch exhibits.Ìý

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Sadly, sighted people harassing blind people, grabbing and pushing us is not uncommon.Ìý If I may offer a suggestion – the museum should block entry to sighted people, they’re quite poorly behaved.Ìý Not only that turning off the lights, an accommodation for sighted people would reduce the electricity bill – think about it.Ìý In all seriousness, sighted people need to stop making assumptions.Ìý Many disabilities are not visible and some visible symbols, such as guide dog harnesses, appear different around the world.Ìý We shouldn’t have to dress a certain way or carry a specific symbol.Ìý Museum visitors playing culture police may end up hurting someone.Ìý

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Touring the British Museum is still one of the highlights for my trip to London.Ìý They have informational books in braille, large print, as well as audio guides.Ìý Inviting us to touch ancient art remains a rare gift, only a few museums around the world do this.Ìý But it’s my hope more will follow.

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White

The very individual perspective of deafblind Haben Girma.Ìý

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And that’s just about it for now, except that we need your help.Ìý We’re planning a programme soon on accessible holidays and we’d like your thoughts and experiences on what kind of holidays work best for visually impaired people.Ìý And how to make the best of them.Ìý And you might like to throw in your ideas on what to avoid, also based on your experiences.

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You can email intouch@bbc.co.uk, you can leave your voice messages on 0161 8361338 and you can go to our website bbc.co.uk/intouch from where you can download the latest and previous editions of In Touch.Ìý And you can also find the ways to get in touch with Vogue.

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From me, Peter White, producer Beth Hemmings and studio managers John Benton and Phil Booth, goodbye.

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