Heartbreakingly beautiful story of Dimitar Dradi

Courtesy of Dimitar Dradi

I've never thought I’d be sitting here at my desk today, trying to write down a biographical article for a publication. But here I am with my music and now everything has suddenly stopped and forces me to wake up my memories. The time machine brings me back to my childhood. I was 7 or 8 in the orphanage where we didn’t even have shoes to walk, so both during summer and winter we used to walk barefoot like Australian Aborigines. Among my mates there were boys who used to wear women’s clothing because they were warm and vice versa, girls who protect themselves from cold wearing men’s clothing; we did not know dignity, nor have any idea what having a mum, a dad, a brother or a sister was like. Our imagination just led us to have hope and believe in ourselves. I remember the beatings and the abuses we suffered, to the point that at nighttime we used to slam our heads against the headboard, just to fall asleep. I kept this bad habit even for the first few times after the adoption. We showered fully clothes, scared that they could take our little decency left away. When my family adopted me I was 7 years old, weighting 19 kilos and I began to feel gratified for having personal, new and perfumed clothes, but still I was so scared that I even asked my new parents if they “took me to be their home slave”.

Courtesy of Dimitar Dradi

Nobody had actually taught me before what a family was. Today I’m 29 years old and I think about these experiences as part of a personal path of growth that I’m still walking today. I realized I cannot give anything for granted regarding myself and all the people around me. Recently I figured out that when all you had is lost, you still keep your imagination; so I took advantage of it through my job. Every dress I create tells something about my soul, about my life. This process made me realize, after years of pain and tears, that being able to transform all that negativity into something so positive it is what defines me, out of any classification: I am myself. My greatest sorrow was seeing people who loved me being unable to understand and react to the immense pain I felt during my emotional journey.

Courtesy of Dimitar Dradi

I had been carrying this burden during 11 years, but I finally made it. I’ve managed to communicate my emotions to people, not through rage but through art. I had my own back when I presented my collection in Milan. I was so proud of my work and during the runaway I saw and felt the emotion of my dear ones: my dad, my aunt, my friends and suddenly everything was over, all my painful past was gone, the circle was closed.

Courtesy of Dimitar Dradi

Today I’ve turned the page, I’m starting a new chapter of my life. Being a public figure have not made me lose focus on more important things; I put aside all my bad blood to help those who had hurt me, even with no reason. Nowadays I no longer wear a mask. I’ve figured out how much love I still have to give, but yet I sense that a piece of my heart is missing. I lost it when I got separated from the two people I loved and still love the most: Filu and Nadia, my best friends in the orphanage. They are always with me, even if life has taught me that everything happens for a reason, and that’s what makes it so special.

Courtesy of Dimitar Dradi