We were lucky to catch up with Ebony Adell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ebony, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My most meaningful projects right now are my art exhibitions and my latest collections, “Chakrasana” and “The 3rd Dimension.”

Thanks to Artbox Projects this year has been my most successful year for my artwork. My visual mantras, masks and wearable art have been featured at art exhibitions in Italy at La Biennale Di Venezia, Zurich at the Swiss Art Expo, Spain at Casa del Arte Palma, and my first exhibition in the United States in Miami at Art Basel. I’ve struggled for over 20 years to get my artwork seen by the masses and these have been the biggest shows of my life.

“The 3rd Dimension” is the first full RTW that features all 7 chakras and the introduction to my men’s collection. Chakrasana features a pattern that’s a modernized version of the Underground Railroad Freedom Quilt.

My 9-5 is a teacher and I used to teach middle school history at one of the Concept Schools in Milwaukee. They have a super dope, intensive history curriculum that really dives deep into all cultures from 6-8th grade. My class touched on the subject of the quilt when the 8th graders got to the slavery period in American History. I was intrigued and when a modernized version of the quilt came to town, I went to go see it in person. However the current quiltmaker was white, and she wasn’t very nice or forthcoming when I was inquiring about the history. She was giving me dark chakras and bad vibrations so I decided that I would do some research on my own and make one.

I shelved the idea for a few years, then in 2022 I decided to go full throttle. As most people know, before the Civil War reading was against the law for the slaves. As they were planning to escape enmasse, they had to figure out a way to communicate the pathway to freedom across plantations and states without using words. The result was a coded language using quilt blocks that created a map to the north. Each symbol is a call to action like; pack your tools, wear a disguise, this is a safe place, follow the birds north etc.

I got some backlash in the process because you know there’s this stigma for African Americans about “living in the past” concerning slavery. We are the only culture that is encouraged to forget or are ashamed of our struggle. But for me, I view this quilt as an example the genius of my people. The resilience, the bravery, the psychological strategy they had to have to live during that time and then to create this quilt map is a testimony that they never accepted their circumstance, they always were trying to figure out how to get to freedom. With my mixed heritage of Native American and African American, storytelling is a big part of who I am so I use the new pattern combined with the chakra colors to represent those energies to tell a story about a path to freedom through sustainability and guide the community on a path of greater consciousness.

Ebony, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Ebony Adell and I’m the founder of TSX Design House(TSXDH). I am an international sustainable luxury fashion designer, protest artist, author, yogi, educator, producer and mother; born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
It may seem like I’m doin too much but my brand, TSXDH is what I call a 360 degree brand. It’s a circular strategy so every co-brand under the umbrella directly feeds into every other part of the brand. Everything cross promotes and feeds into the mission of the next brand, it functions like a well oiled machine.

In 2002 I was already teaching tantra and yoga in a chatroom when I realized there was a lack of awareness of a higher consciousness through yoga, meditation and a sustainable lifestyle within communities of color, a need for more sustainable options in fashion plus a need for more people of color to provide those options. So Tantric Sex Design House was born. I took the time over the years to gain knowledge in all of those arenas then I went back to school in 2006 to take the brand to the next level.

I just continued to attend trade shows and keep creating over the years, websites, Etsy, Zazzle etc, so that I could continue learning even though the brand itself was stagnant. I had to constantly build on my ideas to stay relevant and advance my skillset.

Life kept going on, I had 2 more children, gained and lost jobs but I never gave up, never stopped painting, did more yoga, prayed really hard, start doing fashion shows, hair shows; like whatever I could get into. Then one day I got an email from Oxford Fashion Studios inviting me to show in Paris. I just knew this was the career changing moment.

Just as fast as something so life changing happened, I lost my job, Covid hit, I had some legal issues, medical issues, then it wasn’t until a year and a half later that I had my big moment in 2021 and I launched at London Fashion Week with my ss22 collection “Transcend8.” It’s been nonstop since then. We’ve been featured in over 20 trend reports/international publications such as Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and more. 2022 we showcased at International Digital Fashion Week on FNL Network with one of my favorite legacy brands, GUCCI and at LA Fashion Week with The Model Experience. We opened 2 new online stores and also launched a bidding site for the artwork. 2023 is also full steam ahead. We’re on track to go to Paris Fashion Week, back to London Fashion Week then if all goes as planned 2024 is our solo show in Dubai.

I am most proud of my evolution. I want readers to know that you can manifest the vibrational reality you desire and deserve when you commit to that particular intention and connect it to your purpose.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I use to believe that I owed something to my past, who I used to be. I struggled with loyalty to people and ideologies that did not serve me or my intentions. Loyal to a detriment that kept trying to drag me and make me hustle backwards. But I had to realize that the evolution of my existence is more important than who I was in those moments. Nurturing my purpose and my mission in the now is more important than the mistakes I’ve made in the past or the life I use to live. God don’t play about me and his universe has a plan for me, every day I remind myself not to get in my own way and allow that to happen.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to build a sustainable legacy for the future of my family, and the collective as a whole. Use my platforms to combat socio environmental oppression and enrich the community by encouraging engagement in a higher consciousness through a holistic lifestyle. I create these products, provide these services, write these stories and paint these pictures to draw out those individuals that are ready to be the change, those are my customers and clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tsx-design-house.com/
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/tsx_design_house
• Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/GodWorldGrind
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebony-adell-1384911b/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TSXDesignHouse
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@eb3373
• Other: https://watch.fnlnetwork.com/video/tsx-design-house/ https://oxfordfashionstudio.com/designer/tsx-design-house https://sites.google.com/view/lleda-artifacts/home https://www.contrado.com/stores/tsxdh https://contrado.com/stores/Chakrasana https://www.tiktok.com/@tsxdesignhouse?_t=8XNafRkSLb4&_r=1

Image Credits
FNL Network DrkMattR The Model Experience Oxford Fashion Studios Harper’s Bizarre Phailynn Marshall Duyen T. Lam Queenkesha Hollins Cody Malone tashaaaa.llb angie.alcala