Chamiah Dewey: From NCS To Ground-Breaking Fashion Designer

TL;DR Chamiah Dewey was doing NCS when she had a lightbulb moment. That flash of inspiration led her to launch a fashion label, get loads of press coverage, and even show her latest collection at London Fashion Week.

Moral of the Story? Who knows where NCS can lead!

Chamiah Dewey is the 24 year old trailblazer who’s making a mark in the world of fashion. Her clothing label, Chamiah Dewey Fashion (CDF), makes clothes for people who are short in stature — and it’s the first brand in the UK to do so. Where did she find her inspiration? Well, it all started at NCS. So we caught up with her to hear how it’s all going.

Reflecting on where it all began, Chamiah said, “After taking part in NCS at 16, I came back to be a team leader. There was a little person in my group and I didn’t know much about Dwarfism, nor had I been around anyone with it. Spending time together at NCS, I learned so much about the condition, the challenges it brings, and the resilience that it had built in this young person. When she and I discussed shopping for a prom outfit, and how difficult that had been for her, it made me curious. So I started looking into the clothing that was available for her, and everything was frumpy, plain and expensive! So that’s when I had a ‘lightbulb’ moment, and knew I wanted to make clothing for people under 4’11.”

After NCS, Chamiah went and enrolled at London College of Fashion where she started working on her first pieces. Fast forward just a couple of years, and she was showing her collection at London Fashion Week 2022! Looking back on it, Chamiah says it was really intense. There had been a month of non-stop sewing. Models had been recruited via social media. Fittings were happening on the morning of the show. And nothing could prepare her for how she’d feel seeing her clothes on the catwalk. “There was a lot of anticipation before the show. Myself and the models weren’t sure how it would be received. But after all the models had walked/wheeled, and were doing their final round, it was clear that we were getting massive cheers and claps. The models were beaming from ear-to-ear, and happiness just flooded over me. I had to take myself off for a cry, I sobbed like a baby! The models came to find me and we all hugged. It was the best moment of my life so far.”

"The models were beaming from ear-to-ear, and happiness just flooded over me. I had to take myself off for a cry, I sobbed like a baby!"

It’s a fair bet that there’ll be many more amazing moments to come, as Chamiah has her sights set on making CDF a global household name. “I want to be the Long Tall Sally for short people”, she said before adding, “Around 2.3% of the global population are short stature, which means that there are roughly 185 million people who lack clothing that’s been properly designed for them.” Of course, taking the brand global won’t be without its challenges, but Chamiah is no stranger to hard work. “When I think of how I got to where I am now, I always come back to my resilience. I grew up without a lot of money. My family were on benefits, living in social housing, and we didn’t have the luxuries that lots of my peers had. Other people might have a helping hand from friends or family, but I didn’t have that. So, I’ve had to work hard and find a way through the hurdles I faced.”

Speaking of hurdles and challenges, she’s faced more than a few since starting the label. She’s had to raise funding. She’s sourced the most eco-conscious fabrics possible. She’s chosen to manufacture in the UK so that her workers are paid a living wage. Even designing the clothes comes with its own challenges. Most designers will test samples on themselves to check how it fits, but Chamiah can’t do that because her body doesn’t match the shape and size of the people she’s designing for. “Everything I do has to go through a more long-winded fit-testing process. I’m fortunate to have a short stature mannequin, in the form of a person with Dwarfism, which helps me massively in visualising my ideas and testing if they fit well.” 

She sees her design process as an opportunity for her to practise empathy. “I’m constantly putting myself in the (mental) shoes of my customer, imagining how they’d fasten a certain garment, thinking about what it could look like on their body, and how comfortable it would be. So I have to remain in my empathic nature a lot of the time.”

"We all start from somewhere. I was really nervous in the beginning, especially when I didn’t know where I’d find the money to make it happen, but if you’re resilient enough and adaptable to change, then you can make it happen."

While running a business naturally comes with highs and lows, whenever Chamiah feels overwhelmed or lacking creativity or motivation, she reminds herself of the words of Steven Bartlett who said on his Diary of a CEO podcast, “You should be aiming to make yourself or your business one percent better everyday.” 

If she were to share her own words of wisdom with other budding fashion designers, Chamiah says, “My advice is just to get started! We all start from somewhere. I was really nervous in the beginning, especially when I didn’t know where I’d find the money to make it happen, but if you’re resilient enough and adaptable to change, then you can make it happen. The Outliers book talks about how it takes 10,000 hours to become successful at anything, so get started on your 10,000 hours!”

Wise words Chamiah, and from all of us at NCS we wish you and your business all the success in the world!