Diane Goldie of London, UK on Life, Lessons & Legacy

Diane Goldie shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Diane , thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What do you think is misunderstood about your business? 
Because I work with fabric as my primary medium, I’m often referred to or described as a designer or seamstress. It’s an easy mistake to make but for me, it couldn’t be more inaccurate. As a very political person who really rails against exploitation within industries under capitalism ( a basic profit model), I cannot align myself with the fashion industry. I do not follow trends,or the fashion calendar. I stay deliberately ignorant to what’s currently in fashion and create from a place of personal excitement and inspiration. I consider myself an artist, neurodivergent advocate and storyteller, using my pieces to challenge the norms of society. I invite the wearer to step up to their fullest , hidden potential, to take that leap of faith into their truest self, leaving behind the need to hide in the shadows, taking up maximum visual space. I also work with grief as my teacher, helping others connect with their own losses through creating wearable altar pieces in memory of their loved ones. I also love to nurture unabashed self love in women by encouraging them to wear their own image as a two fingers up to societies need to stay small as women under Patriarchy. To have your own back is a liberating and empowering stance as a woman during these regressive times.

All those words to say, I’m a political artist and healer, not a designer .

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Ever since I took a leap of faith after my dear father’s death when I heard the inner call to “Do it NOW!” I’ve been working in my very unique niche of creating wearable art pieces, that tell the wearers personal story in images, symbols, colours and sometimes words. These robes serve as ‘soft armour’: a way of presenting the self in social settings in a non verbal way, replacing the need for small talk and encouraging and seeding conversation around the robe. As an autistic creative, I first created this for myself as an accidental expressive social ice breaker, and now my mostly neurodivergent clients feel the same benefits when wearing their own personal storytelling robes. On the surface they are glamorous, extroverted garments inviting the wearer to take up visual space, on a deeper level they serve as a social lubricant in social settings. This is me!
My robes are also seen on stages around the globe as they are perfect performance pieces, worn by Grammy winners, Jill Scott, Tank and the Bangas, Jacob Collier, and other noteable musicians and poets such as Black Thought, Norah Jones, Big Freedia, Shola Ama, Dominique Christina and Salena Godden.
New York / East London colour icon Sue Kreitzman has an extensive collection of robes I’ve created in collaboration with her vibrant outsider art.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child I was told I would never be an artist because I could only copy.

By my mother. I was seven.

My mother, rightly or wrongly, tried her utmost to dissuade me from the creative path. I was the only child at my secondary school banned from doing ( compulsory subject) art after my mother had met with the headteacher.
The school arranged for private after school art classes for me . My mother was told I was at netball.

I believed I would never be an artist because clearly I lacked the necessary skill set needed.
My step-father encouraged me to go to art college after graduating high school. I attended for two and a half years and I loved it. My mother pulled all funding, forcing me to leave before I could complete my art education. My tutors begged me to consider taking legal action against my mother in order for me to complete my education but I couldn’t. I daren’t. So I left. Perhaps she was right.

But here I am, over 45 years later, an artist.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Losing my eldest child, Imogen, on her 28th birthday ( she took her own life) has been my biggest teaching and learning moment. It cracked my heart wide open and got me questioning everything I thought I knew about myself, my life, existence, God, and ultimately what was normal.
It was truly a seismic shift in my being.

I discovered my own neurodivergence ( I’m Audhd) and have subsequently received an autism diagnosis at the grand age of 61. Now everything makes sense. I wrote the story of this journey in a book called We Accept Her, One of Us (available on Amazon) to honour my departed child and her part in being my teacher and now, ancestor. I’ve already heard from many readers how the book has helped them identify their own neurodivergence.
I feel like a late blooming flower, unashamed of my magnificent scented blowziness as my petals unfurl in their messy yet glorious authenticity .

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely!

Being a proudly autistic human, authenticity is at the core of my being. Nothing matters to me more than integrity and honesty.

I try to pushback against the demand for perfection and filtered reality that social media supports by posting unflattering videos and images of myself. This is me…take me or leave me. I have no need for your validation.
Being post-menopausal really helps with this, I pressed the ‘Fuck it’ button many years ago.
The strange ( or perhaps not?) consequence of this is I often get young people reaching out to me telling me how cool they think I am.
It’s good to know being yourself is still considered cool.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope I’m described as real and kind, with an eye for beauty,vibrancy and social justice.

My biggest fault that I’m actually quite fond of is that I’m an open book. I am a chronic over-sharer ( it’s comes with the ‘tism) and so I can be quite vulnerable to exploitation. I’m lucky, finally (after implementing much needed boundaries) to have been surrounded with people who vibrate on a similar frequency to me, so I now know I’m in safe company.
I hope my open heart will be remembered with fondness despite my tendency to be blunt around sensitive matters. I hope I will be remembered for being a teacher through storytelling, both in fabric and book form.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dianegoldieartist.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianegoldie_wearableartist?igsh=d3lrZzVlcWpweW1o&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=8zt7FPyGGQHiejq9b881828eGzyjKpIrXXrvZjjib3N

  https://www.amazon.com/Accept-Her-One-Exploration-Womanhood/dp/106844570X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.nj_AXUphJw-B1qZGnnFOmsP6Oir161O03Z0yauc5RabxgxERjyiOM9MlO2OLmCUHKRyZaSDiQ4aYAun2b-tOTaCJwP3Ab4Y9EsIhJ-aj4GxUA8ohRJkF2gfEZ8Qo-4NAt1DjjTTOzm2woXeJoJkFVDL_N9V4KScDPg_1E8oDUSYZpqC-MFprRspxoqjTuQgwIh6n1IsLQ5JIiTIVldbFLw.ixt71glhAUv9UczPG_vd-tywPc2xpguGuecAe81qHG0&dib_tag=se&keywords=We+Accept+Her%2C+One+Of+Us&qid=1762686735&sr=8-1

Image Credits
Personal Photo of Diane with pink hair by Anna McGrane

Photo of Diane in red dress by Bari Goddard

Frida Medusa kimono photo by Ryan Bater