Louisa Warwin's discovery of figure skating at the age of six catapulted her to a successful career. She has competed in tournaments all around the world and has won various awards, including a medal in the 2020 Reykjavik International Games. But, despite her accomplishments, the 28-year-old violinist continues to struggle with a long-standing problem: finding the correct tights to match her skin tone.
Warwin shared her experience on TikTok in November, when she was unable to participate in a concert in Birmingham, England, due to a lack of tights. Warwin is shown in the video sitting on the floor, apparently distraught because her tights are many shades brighter than her skin tone. Her brown tights did not meet the competition's specifications for fitting over the boot, leaving her with little alternative but to wear the only accessible option, a lighter-colored pair, which made her uncomfortable.
‘I've been dealing with this for more than 20 years,’ she told NBC News in February.
Warwin, who is of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent, is the only Black figure skater to qualify for Norway's national championship. While her life's ambition motivated her to break down boundaries in a sport with scant diversity, she claimed the struggle to find fitting tights frequently caused emotional distress and made her feel uncomfortable.
‘I was just so irritated at this point,’ Warwin added. ‘I couldn't imagine I'd be doing this again in 2021.’
To figure skaters, tights are no small thing. Besides matching with a skater’s skin tone, flexibility in tights enables a skater’s ease of movement and provides warmth in cold temperatures. But as more Black people slowly enter the sport, they are demanding dignity and recognition equal to their peers in something that may seem negligible to the casual figure skating fan.
During competitions, merchants are present and supply figure skaters with tights that meet the standards of the competition. However, when it comes to Black figure skaters, many retailers around Europe do not stock darker-colored tights, forcing skaters to bring their own or dye what is available. While some skaters, like as Warwin, are asking that the sport adapt to be more inclusive, new businesses are also springing up to meet the increased demand.
Warwin, a figure skating instructor, was also inspired to broadcast the video in November by one of her skaters who had a similar experience.
Warwin's multiracial pupil, who was unable to obtain tights in her skin tone, informed her that during a competition, one of the judges observed that her tights did not match her skin tone. When Warwin's student sought to alert a Norwegian skate shop about their lack of supply for persons of color, the store's reaction was that because she was a minority in the sport, there was no need for them to have the tights in her complexion accessible. The merchant offered to purchase tights for Warwin's pupil, but they didn't arrive in time for the competition, forcing her to wear what was available.
That was enough to compel Warwin to share the footage.
‘There was something in my heart that said, 'I just need some time.'‘
