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The Chapter 6: A Ground to Stand On
Havier as Forest Televani
Ness as Forest Televani
Richie as Rock Televani
Ciara as Rock Televani
Kijuan as Water Televani
Misfya as Water Televani
Ophelia as Lorelle
Muyi as Lorelle Warrior
Sohalia as Lorrelle Spirit
Kundai as Ricky Warrior
Yuki as Ricky Spirit
Jahmari as Ricky
Karl as Mum
Ange-Marcel as Mum Warrior
Bella as Mum Spirit
For Chapter 6, A Ground to Stand On, the journey continues, focusing on three key figures within the family. Lorrelle’s guardianship reflects our desire to protect what has been built. Ricky’s pragmatism speaks to the need for resilience in the face of shifting landscapes. Mum’s shapeshifting embodies adaptability – the capacity to hold multiple forms and truths at once. Together, they model survival and transformation, reminding us that identities are never static but evolving through the worlds we move across. Each character manifests across three states: base, warrior, elemental – tracing identity from the human to the mythic.
With Tutorial Island behind them, the family ventures into a broader world, teeming with histories of its own. Here, they encounter the Télavani: a collective of abstract figures informed by the pre-colonial resistance histories of Jamaica and St. Vincent. Grounded in real history yet expanded through myth, the Télavani embody a personal lineage of resilience, guardianship, and metamorphosis. Their survival is instinctive, their resistance eternal. This encounter raises a larger question: what does it mean to enter a world already shaped by others? Here, history is reimagined – what if those who arrived had sought to learn and exchange, rather than to take?
The Télavani’s exaggerated proportions inform the collection’s silhouettes and the interplay between body and terrain. Rooted so deeply in the land that they become almost indistinguishable from it, their forms echo mountains, jungles, and tides, evolving into guardians of memory and protectors of knowledge. Through them, we draw a direct line to Caribbean histories of resistance – communities that survived erasure by adapting, by becoming elemental themselves. This connection extends the family’s timeline further back, revealing hidden histories and deepening the continuity of self. For the audience, it becomes a call to reflect on their own ancestry – to seek out the stories that persist, even in the face of erasure.
Our sixth season represents a step toward focus and refinement – grounded yet expressive. Textile choices and surface treatments – camouflage, armour, and elemental textures – become portals into our narrative, with dyeing and printing serving as extensions of the story itself. The garments embody this duality. Rooted
in natural materials and organic forms, they draw texture from the earth, colour from water, and silhouettes that balance subtle functionality with bold expression. Every piece becomes both a protective layer and a statement, anchoring us in the natural world while carrying the imagination forward.
Under the nurturing guidance of performance director Dermot Daly, our cast embodies these archetypes in motion, their gestures and rhythms evoking quests, encounters, and transformation. The score, written by Jordan Fox, blends influences of UK grime, jazz, medieval melodies, and our hero’s theme – built over our
continued collaboration across the past few seasons – all through the lens of his unmistakable composer magic, giving the performance its pulse. This season’s choice to present the collection through movement mirrors the narrative itself – the family is no longer frozen in time, but actively moving, evolving, and
engaging with the world around them.
Behind the fantasy lies a collective process. Designing family members as archetypes is never solitary: it unfolds through collaboration between Yaku and a wider circle of makers, performers, and storytellers: a symbolic presence nurtured by the team. This shared authorship reflects our ethos: identity and survival are
collective, not individual. Community remains at the heart of what we do. For us, the presentations are not commercial showcases but gatherings – where the alternate reality of the
At its heart, this chapter reflects on inheritance. Like every season, the growth of our characters mirrors our own growth as designers: a balance of honesty and imagination, heritage and transformation. The family’s encounter with the Télavani affirms a grounding truth: the future is rooted in the past, and resistance itself can be generative. It is a recognition of the histories embedded in the land, and the possibility of rewriting what could have been.
Yaku’s family not only discover A Ground to Stand On, but the reminder that every step forward rests on the endurance of those who came before.
- words by Laila Rose
Thank You
To the British Fashion Council, for providing us with a platform to share our creations. To the Paul Smith
Foundation, the Mayor of London, Projekt, British GQ, Martha Mosse and Jake Pearce, for so generously giving us the space to create. To Brian Jones and Blonstein Productions, for actively making it possible to turn fantasy into reality. To Dermot Daly—you fill our hearts with love and inspiration. To our amazing actors, for shining so brightly, each in your own special way. To Michelle Dacillo and Richard Phillipart, for giving our actors the confidence to shine. To Jordan Fox, whose gift for storytelling through music and generosity of time once again brought the perfect
score to life. To Madison Hahn & Nike London, for your kind support—we wouldn’t want anything but the swoosh on our characters’ feet. To Jo Buchan, for meeting the set sculpture challenge with such artistry, speed, and infectious joy. To Olya Kuryshchuk, whose generous support and complete honesty continue to push us forward. To Baile Ali, Oscar Finnie and Mossy McDermott, for capturing the moment. To Beker Studio, where our canvas come alive in colour. To Beata Kubala & Lucy, Ibrahim & Guney Guvec, for helping us transfer our work from the studio and into the hands of the people.
And most of all, thank you to my fantastic studio team and everyone who helped bring this project together:
Anastasiya Kuzmich, Alex Bäuml, Baxter Inyundo, Charlie Arnott, Charlize Pfister, Dooroo Kang, Dylan Smith, Eliana McHugh, Halle Bates, Harrison Ball, Harvey Bigg, Hebe Hope, Henry Ngo, Jisu Baek, Keisha Wood, Kiki Fraikue, Laila Rose, Marmarie Zaloom, Mathis Oliver, Meda Mosiejute, Noah Clark, Rory O’Sullivan, Sofia Mehdi, Sol Thal Larsen, Sookyung Kim, Taymar Robinson, Tigo Amaya, Toby Brooke, Woody Castang, Yijune Kang, and Zenia Gordon.
Performance Director: Dermot Daly
Score: Jordan Fox
Make Up: Michelle Dacillo
Hair: Richard Phillipart
Production: Brian Jones & Blonstein Productions
Set Sculpture Design: Sookyung Kim
Set Sculpture Production: Jo Buchan of @snuglife_ldn
Backstage