Tallulah Willis learned how to manage her busy life.
Willis, 30, who was diagnosed with autism last year, says receiving the news provided “a level of validation and kind of feeling like these things aren’t just in my head or more than anything, I’m not too much,” she tells PEOPLE. “That there is no feeling, ‘Oh, I have to be less.’ Because there’s a sense of, ‘I’m safe being who I am, I just need a different set of tools to navigate.'”
Zoey Grossman
Now her schedule includes the launch of a capsule collection of luxury silk brand Kumi Kookoon called Kumi KøøBuu. Already a fan of the company, the entrepreneur and artist approached them three years ago to discuss a collaboration. The result is vibrant new shades of dyed silk unique to her collection in a variety of products including blankets, bedding, duvet covers and pillowcases.
Willis, who wanted to be very involved in the creative process, “was particularly drawn to blankets, especially because they are heavy by nature,” she explains. “And as I learn more about my autism and my sensory stuff, there’s something very safe and special about that feeling of heaviness.”
The artist insists that she views her autism “as a superpower and I know that’s my own journey, being someone who’s on the higher-functioning side of the spectrum,” she says. “I feel very fortunate. And with that comes my responsibility and my desire to continue to raise awareness and advocate, especially when it comes to women who are diagnosed late.”
Willis now feels empowered to “take a lot of responsibility for my own needs, instead of feeling like I’m putting it on other people or expecting other people to just read my mind, which I think we can all catch a little bit of,” she allows. “What comes with the diagnosis is an invitation to explore a lot more vocabulary around this without judgment.”
More than anything, the artist says she’s thankful for “mental health providers and practitioners and therapists and people who are on the ground floor to really try to help other people in this way,” she adds. “Without judgment and righteous love.”
Her capsule collection, Kumi KøøBuu, is available on the Kumi Kookoon website and @kumikookoonofficial on Instagram.
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Source: HIS Education