MODA Designer Profile: Dinah Clottey
Dinah Clottey is a third year sociology major, co-president of the Organization of Black Students, and a co-host of the podcast Kinda Sorta Brown. Formal credentials can only tell you so much, so let me fill in the rest: Dinah is one of the most dedicated people you will ever meet on this campus, driven and thoughtful in equal parts. Over the summer, Dinah founded her own crochet boutique, T’KOR Couture—you can find her work and loads of stunning pictures in which she models her handmade designs on the brand’s Instagram page here. This spring, she’ll be bringing a collection of her luminous garments to the MODA Fashion Show for the first time! Read on to hear Dinah’s thoughts on creativity, style, and the treasure of Black womanhood.
When did you start crocheting?
I started crocheting when I was 12. It was a very on and off kind of relationship. I followed lots of patterns and was too scared to create something of my own. But last summer during the BLM protests I took crochet more seriously. I couldn’t find a pattern to express the thoughts in my head, and so I freehanded. It was over the summer of 2020 that I became a designer, an artist. And I wouldn’t change that milestone for the world.
Dinah in some of her handmade designs. Click to expand.
What are your main creative inspirations?
My inspiration is BLACK WOMEN! I live in an all female household and they have inspired my life choices. Periodt. Black women are often neglected and forgotten. And so in my pieces, I don’t want to forget us. I want to celebrate us! The work we’ve done, the lives we’ve shaped, the things we’ve built! Black women are amazing and it’s about time the rest of the world started to realize it.
How does your creative process work?
I need an outlet. The world is messed up, especially through the lens of a Black woman living on the South Side of Chicago. Sometimes there’s so much bad in the world I feel like my mind’s about to explode! When I don’t know what to do or what to say, I pick up my yarn and create. I like to caption my Instagram posts with the thoughts that prevailed most in my mind as I crocheted that item. When the world is dark I try to shed some light, and so I just imagine something and create it. I turn some music on or put on a cringy show, and I get to making.
How has navigating the world as a Black woman influenced your work?
I never would’ve ever thought in my life that I would’ve considered myself a fashion designer. I never followed trends or paid attention to what I or the people around me wore for the longest time. But I came to UChicago and in this space where I was trying to discover who I am and what I want to do with the rest of my life, I turned to clothes to help me express that.
All my life, people have paid attention to the part of myself I can’t control: my brown skin. And I never came from much money, so the only way I could afford new clothes was through creating them myself. And so I depend a lot on crochet as an outlet for self-expression. I’m doing my best to discover who I am and to embrace her.
“I’m doing my best to discover who I am and to embrace her.”
What is the theme for the collection you’ll be displaying in the MODA Fashion Show?
My theme for the show is based on my theme for my new summer collection titled “ENUF.” I love the book For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. It tells the story of Black women struggling to survive in this place we call life. They experience so many pains in their life related to being colored and being women, and just when it feels like the world is going to collapse on them, they come together. Together, they find strength.
In the book, each girl represents a color of the rainbow, and so I utilized these colors in my collection. This collection is a hodgepodge of color. It’s about taking control of your own narrative and using style to help you. My collection is bright and vibrant and demands the world to see you and treasure you. It says you are enuf as you are. Periodt!
This is your first time designing for MODA—what encouraged you to bring your talents to the show?
The UChicago community is a big reason as to why I started my business in the first place. And so I thought it would be really fun to create clothes for the show! It’s been a stressful process, but I’m looking forward to showcasing my clothes on the show. I’m really honored and excited to see my beautiful models wearing my designs! I hope those who attend the show love it!
Is there anything else you want people to know about you as a creative?
Follow me @tkorcouture on IG and TikTok! We are working hard over here. It’s a one woman show!
All images via Dinah Clottey. See her designs exhibited in the MODA Fashion Show this spring.
