Luke Christian: Founder of DEAF IDENTITY on coping with lockdown and launching a new Christmas partnership!

Hello everyone! My name is Luke Christian, I was born deaf (the deaf gene runs back at least 5 generations within my family!) and I’m proud to say I manage and founded the brand DEAF IDENTITY.

DEAF IDENTITY is a fashion brand that raises deaf awareness in a modern, relevant and fun way and celebrates being deaf in a world where equality and inclusivity is at the forefront. It was inspired when I was still yet to see any representation for the deaf community.

I wanted to create a strong brand that showed the world that there’s no right or wrong way of being deaf. It’s all about how you identify as a deaf person that matters and nobody can take this away from you.

When you log onto the deafidentity.com website, you can expect to find some cheeky, tongue in cheek phrases such as ‘WELL YOU DON’T LOOK DEAF’ (something I was and still do get told all of the time,) ‘WHEN YOU TELL THEM YOU’RE DEAF AND THEY STILL SEND A VOICENOTE’ and many many more other phrases.

You can also personalise your clothing such as t-shirts, hoodies and sweaters in British Sign Language and Auslan too in a range of sizes and colours to suit your taste!

A normal week for me changes on a weekly basis, even more so throughout 2020! However, a steady routine seems to consist of designing the orders, boxing them up ready to send off, responding to all enquiries, sorting out PR, keeping on top of all things social media, reaching out to deaf influencers/bloggers, sorting out photo shoots, thinking ahead for new designs and so much more.

It’s safe to say, I don’t have much time to ‘twiddle my thumbs’!

When COVID-19 hit us all, my business came to a complete stop. The supply chain had been affected quite badly and for the first month or so, I was unable to create any customer orders and it was a difficult time mentally but with that being said, the love and support shown towards DEAF IDENTITY was overwhelming and showed me how the brand had resonated with so many people!

The main challenge for me was to accept that things were out of my hands and there wasn’t anything I could do to change that. I utilised the time however to work on new designs for future releases and focused on ‘Joe Wicks HIIT training’ as I’m sure many others seemed to do too!

For this year, DEAF IDENTITY have partnered up with The Deaf Health Charity, SignHealth where 15% of all Christmas Card pack sales and the DEAF IDENTITY Logo Embroidered Caps will be donated to the charity.

I am proud to have partnered up with such a well-respected deaf charity given all of the incredible work they do surrounding mental health and domestic abuse issues and for also providing daily BSL updates with COVID-19, something that the government failed massively on.

Also, as they are one of the largest employers of deaf people, this is something that is very important to me as I champion deaf talent throughout DEAF IDENTITY and it is something that the brand stands firmly on!

You can find our Christmas Card packs containing 6 cards on our website deafidentity.com under ‘Christmas Gifts’ alongside our DEAF IDENTITY Embroidered Logo Caps!

The inspiration behind Christmas 2020 was to bring back the vibrant, cosy colour; red, and to also bring back the classic phrase from last year: ‘SLEIGH BELLS RING ARE YOU LISTENING? NO, I’M DEAF.’ I was actually a little worried about this phrase last year as I didn’t know how it would be received as it is rather cheeky, but the phrase became an instant hit and so I wanted to create 2 other phrases to go alongside it still keeping in line with the ‘cheeky’ feel. They are:

– ‘IT’S SILENT NIGHT EVERY NIGHT FOR ME’

– ‘& THE BELLS WERE RINGING OUT FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. … THEY WERE?’

There’s also a few new launches this Christmas too such as ‘Bags For Life’, one style can be customised in British Sign Language/Auslan and the other is our logo! There’s also an e-gift card, beanies, caps and our Christmas Cards.

In order to cope with another lockdown and the pressures it brings – for me personally – being able to get outside and go for walks has really uplifted me and it’s just the simple things such as getting a bit of fresh air and keeping active that really can make a difference.

I would also say to people, don’t let self comparison take over either. We spend so much time on social media and probably more so now in the second lockdown we’re in, and if something’s trending on social media it doesn’t mean you have to follow if it’s not your thing & equally just because something isn’t being shown on social media doesn’t mean that nothings happening. Take this time to reflect, rest and hit that reset button. But, most importantly, take this time to practice self care.

So whats next for DEAF IDENTITY? Well, all I can say is (touch wood with everything that’s going on at the moment) that if all goes to plan, next Deaf Awareness Week 2021 will be the biggest thing I’ve ever done…

But for now, thinking about Christmas I’m just hoping for some dark chocolate from Hotel Chocolat, a new fragrance from Le Labo and a nice Diptyque candle!

So to all my followers and readers, do stay positive throughout this period we’re all in, don’t be too hard on yourself and keep going!

To order any of the items on deafidentity.com do bear in mind the current Christmas delivery dates as listed on the website. 

Luke Christian is the founder of DEAF IDENTITY. You can find out more here:

www.deafidentity.com