It’s common knowledge that the fashion industry has been male-centric since since its beginning, with women’s important work ethics largely overlooked.

Fashion scholar Rashida Ricketts is the Founder and Creative Director of Graves to Gardens, a podcast that bridges fashion and social justice. She has created pathways to elevate unheard stories and educate her listeners through fashion discourse.

Graves to Gardens has featured prominent fashion leaders such as CFDA member Victor Glemaud, Olivier Rousteing of Balmain, Chrissy Rutherford, formerly of Harper’s Bazaar, and Harlem Fashion Row’s Brandice Daniel. Each leader shared Ricketts’ drive to advocate for social issues, especially women’s incarceration.

Ricketts started Graves to Gardens during the height of racial unrest in the U.S. in 2020. “There were social issues that weren’t sitting right with me. I started talking about issues that actually mattered, God gave me a vision to fulfill.” Ricketts stated.

The genesis of Ricketts’ impactful work in reflection of society started in high school. “In 2020, I came across this old notebook of an idea I brainstormed for a fundraiser event that involved fashion, music, and dance. Finding that notebook made me realize that fashion and social justice has always been within me,” she said.

Ricketts studied Communications at The College of New Jersey, specializing in Radio, Television, and Film in addition to majoring in Journalism.

“I was a part of an organization called Bonner Community Scholars, a serious commitment. At first, I tutored in Bonner’s Education Division for an after school program,” she said. “I eventually fought my way into the Juvenile Justice Division. From there, I started tutoring men in a prison and a county jail. I contributed to re-entry work as well.

“My capstone project was a short documentary film on a widow woman who pushed to start an organization called Women Who Never Give Up after her husband died in prison. It was a sad story but it was not an uncommon story. She supported other women who lost a family member and advocated for women who had been incarcerated and affected by the system.”

After, Ricketts did her Master’s in Fashion Studies at Parsons School of Design,  with her research focused on fashion at the intersection of women’s incarceration through an in-depth and critical lens. “I started to do more research and I learned that female incarceration is at a growing rate, so why isn’t it talked about enough?” she said. “

For her thesis, In My Jumpsuit: An Analysis of the Embodied Experience of Women in Prison Clothing, Ricketts spoke to incarcerated women and made sure their stories shaped her work in a profound way. These stories inspired her to create Graves to Gardens, so that they are heard far and wide and not just heard by professors or fellow classmates.

“We don’t have to be on the surface level in the way we interact with fashion, it can be deeper,” said Ricketts. “There’s a lot to talk about in this relationship of fashion, clothing, incarceration, and how we adorn our bodies.”

Ricketts’ service in the community has heavily influenced Graves to Gardens. “It’s important for people in fashion to not only look at my platform but also platforms that have elevated stories that are unheard of,” she said.

“We all are engaging in fashion because we all are adorning our bodies. Our discourse doesn’t always look like luxury fashion. Are people even aware that the prison industrial complex plays a role in production of garments? We should think about the labor that goes into production and the hands that are touching the clothes that we put on our bodies.” Ricketts added.

We can see unconventional fashion to be extraordinary, completely out of the normative representations. So, we do not always think or hear about how unconventional fashion can be. It is not everyday that we hear about initiatives in fashion that questions or raises attention to incarceration, especially women who are incarcerated.

“We do have a responsibility to advocate for people who can’t do it for themselves. It’s not just imprisonment to speak about, we can speak to homelessness, poverty, immigration, and women’s rights. We live amongst each other so it’s a responsibility to protect and preserve each other.” Ricketts shared.

Ricketts has presented unheard stories and overshadowed narratives amongst women who are or have been incarcerated. In one episode, “This is Grace”, she spoke with Trans Right Activist Grace DeTreverah who was incarcerated as a trans woman in a men’s facility.

“We spoke about how clothing can be used to protect yourself against unwelcomed harm when you’re in a space that’s more harmful for you. ‘Especially when you’re different from everyone else in that environment’ as Grace put it,” said Ricketts.

In September 2022, Ricketts will be one of the leading curators for the “Clothing, Commissary and Carcerality” exhibition at the Arnold and Sheila Aronson Gallery. The exhibit centralizes the human experience behind bars by expressing the material conditions of incarceration. It will explore the ways that fashion functions as an oppressive force within carceral landscapes, while highlighting fashion’s unique potential and ongoing impressive engagement to work in opposition to carceral regimes.

Fashion will always play an important role in how we envision the world and it is important to honor women for their endless contributions. They are forever setting the bar and moving fashion forward. Behind all closed doors – whether it be your favorite brand or media platform –  the creators, educators, and innovators are, too, the hands of women.