Vintage Photo of the Week

Check out this photo of singing diva, Dinah Washington. Look at how she's worked that evening gown and owned her curves! Go on, sista!

Liya Kebede Signs Exclusive Deal With J.Crew!

Fashion Week Daily reports that Ethiopian runway diva, Liya Kebede, has signed a deal with J.Crew to be the exclusive face of the April J.Crew catalog. Ms. Kebede is the first model to. The company's J.Crew Crewcuts line will also carry pieces from Liya's children's clothing line, Lemlem, which is handmade in Ethiopia. Congrats Diva!

Vintage Photo of the Week

Since it's the weekend and many of us will be heading to the salon tomorrow to "get our hair did", I thought it would be fitting to post this ol' school ad for Vigorol hair relaxer.

Enjoy!

Beyonce Covers Vogue's April Issue

Congrats to Beyonce Knowles for landing the cover of Vogue's April 2009 issue. For the first time in Vogue's history, they have had back-to-back issues featuring Black women on the cover. My momma always says, "It comes in threes", so how about Queen Latifah, Chanel Iman or Jourdan Dunn for the May cover, Ms. Wintour?

Vintage Photo of the Week

Madam Sul-Te-Wan (1873-1959)

This is a photo of Madame Sul-Te-Wan, nee Nellie Conley, who was one of the most prominent Black actresses during the silent film era.

With a career that expanded more than seven decades, Ms. Sul-Te-Wan was the first Black actor contracted to a film, appearing in an uncredited role in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1915. She went on to appear in dozens of films, limited to portraying characters who were maids, "Mammys" or criminals, which was typical for Black actresses at that time. For fans of the Black classic, Carmen Jones, you may remember her as Hagar, the grandmother of Dorothy Dandridge's character. Ms. Sul-Te-Wan performance was so convincing that many thought that she was really Ms. Dandridge's grandmother.

Madame Sul-Te-Wan passed in 1959 at the age of 85 in Hollywood, California. Although Ms. Sul-Te-Wan never gets the recognition she deserves, she's definitely one of the pioneers who paved the way for Black actresses today.

Eric Gaskins Files for Bankruptcy

Crain's New York reports that Eric Gaskins, one of the few Black high-end fashion designers in the industry, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection:

Eric Gaskins, a New York-based designer who founded his eponymous couture line 22 years ago, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week. Under the corporate name MGB Squared Corp., Mr. Gaskins cited assets less than $50,000 and liabilities between $50,001 and $100,000.

He is seeking protection from fewer than 50 creditors including the IRS, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and New York State Department of Labor, which is threatening to padlock the company’s doors, according to Mr. Gaskins’ filing. The company’s showroom is based at 264 W. 40th St., near Eighth Avenue, within the Garment District.

Retailing at Saks Fifth Avenue and other upscale stores, the company creates high-end gowns and evening wear that have been worn by celebrities such as Tina Fey and Salma Hayek. The bankruptcy filing by Mr. Gaskins, who is black, is another blow against the black design community.

“There’s been a lot of attention in the past few years to [having] models of color walk the runways, but behind the scenes, there’s been an equal imbalance in the number of African-American designers,” said Susan Scafidi, intellectual property and fashion law professor at Fordham University School of Law. Losing another African-American designer will only widen the divide.

Eric Gaskins Collection
(Photos: EricGaskins.com)

This is but one of several setbacks Mr. Gaskins has had to endure throughout his career. Despite being under the tutelage of legendary couturier, Hubert de Givenchy, Mr. Gaskins had difficulty finding a job with major fashion houses he returned to the States. In a October 2001 interview with Vogue's editor-at-large (and friend/mentor in my head) Andre Leon Talley, he said that houses, such as Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta would not hire him, and recalls an incident when, on a job interview for Valentino, where he was told to go to the service elevator. Yes, they thought Mr. Gaskins, who was dressed in a tailored suit, was a delivery person.

It was then that he decided to start his own business, first designing men's bermuda shorts, which led to sleeveless linen shifts and later cocktail dresses for Barneys Co-op. The Eric Gaskins label has never been a household name like de la Renta or Kors, but Mr. Gaskins did have tremendous success with his trunk shows, showing his couture collection four times a year. His most recent show was in January at Saks Fifth Avenue in Palm Beach. Unfortunately, in today's economic climate where luxury retailers like Bergdorf Goodman and Saks are struggling, the decline has trickled down to the high-end designers they carry, like Mr. Gaskins.

Industry insiders are saying that chances of a comeback for the Eric Gaskins label are slim to none due to its size and lack of capital to restructure.

Milan Takes Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

WHITES ONLY???

Remember when we were singing the praises of Italian Vogue for their all-Black model issue last July? Sistas all over the world got their Dora The Explorer on looking for the coveted issue. We thought maybe, just maybe the fashion industry would open its doors to models of color, particularly Black models. Well, the designers that showed at New York Fall '09 Fashion Week got the memo. Jezebel's stats show that there was an 18% increase in models of color cast for shows, with 41% of the models of color being Black. Some sistas either opened or closed several shows including our girl Jourdan Dunn who opened AND closed Oscar de la Renta! WHOO HOO!

Then along came Milan.

New York Magazine reports that the top Italian designers Gianfranco Ferré, Giorgio Armani,Jil Sander, Marni, Missoni, Moschino, Prada, and Salvatore Ferragamo did not have ANY models of color. Not. One.

"...And the few times when designers did book ethnic models, they picked from a small, highly-selective pool of girls: Jourdan Dunn, Liu Wen Marina Peres (Dunn, Wen, and Peres were the most requested girls from their respective groups.)

...We noticed that most of the girls had just one turn down the runway, while their Eastern European counterparts had two."

NYMag.com breaks down the stats:

Aquilano e Rimondi
Asian: 2 (Tao Okamoto, Liu Wen)
Black: 0
Latina: 1 (Daiane Conterato)
White: 36 of 39

Alberta Ferretti
Asian: 2 (Tao Okamoto, Du Juan)
Black: 1 (Jourdan Dunn)
Latina: 4 (Marina Peres, twice; Raquel Zimmermann; Daiane Conterato, twice; Bruna Tenorio)
White: 35 of 44

Alessandro Dell'Acqua
Asian: 1 (Tao Okamoto)
Black: 1 (Jourdan Dunn)
Latina: 1 (Raquel Zimmermann, twice)
White: 26 of 30

Blumarine
Asian: 1 (Lakshmi Menon, twice)
Black: 1 (Chanel Iman, twice)
Latina: 3 (Isabeli Fontana, twice; Viviane Orth, twice; Gracie Carvalho, twice)
White: 46 of 56

Bottega Veneta
Asian: 1 (Daul Kim)
Black: 2 (Chanel Iman, Arlenis Sosa)
Latina: 3 (Raquel Zimmermann, twice; Daiane Conterato, Clara Alonso)
White: 28 of 35

Burberry
Asian: 0
Black: 1 (Rose Cordero, twice)
Latina: 0
White: 47 of 49

C'N'C Costume National
Asian: 1 (Shu Pei, twice)
Black: 3 (Aminata Niaria, twice; Georgie Baddiel, Ariel Meredith)
Latina: 0
White: 34 of 40

D&G
Asian: 2 (Daul Kim, Tao Okamoto)
Black: 2 (Chanel Iman, Jourdan Dunn)
Latina: 1 (Aline Weber)
White: 48 of 53

Dolce & Gabbana
Asian: 3 (Daul Kim, Liu Wen, Tao Okamoto)
Black: 2 (Jourdan Dunn, Chanel Iman)
Latina: 1 (Isabeli Fontana)
White: 58 of 64

DSquared2
Asian: 1 (Du Juan)
Black: 2 (Chanel Iman, twice; Jourdan Dunn, twice)
Latina: 0
White: 30 of 35

Emporio Armani
Asian: 0
Black: 0
Latina: 4 (Martha Streck, twice; Bruna Tenorio, Roza Gough, Martina Correa)
White: 49 of 54

Etro
Asian: 1 (Lakshmi Menon, twice)
Black: 1 (Jourdan Dunn, twice)
Latina: 0
White: 38 of 42

Fendi
Asian: 0
Black: 1 (Aminata Niaria, twice)
Latina: 0
White: 41 of 43

Gianfranco Ferré
Asian: 0
Black: 0
Latina: 0
White: 40 of 40

Giorgio Armani
Asian: 0
Black: 0
Latina: 1 (Bruna Tenorio, twice)
White: 47 of 49

Gucci
Asian: 1 (Liu Wen)
Black: 2 (Jourdan Dunn, twice; Chanel Iman, twice)
Latina: 2 (Raquel Zimmermann, three times, Marina Peres)
White: 40 of 49

Jil Sander
Asian: 0
Black: 0
Latina: 0
White: 57 of 57

Marni
Asian: 1 (Liu Wen, twice)
Black: 0
Latina: 2 (Daiane Conterato, twice; Marina Peres, twice)
White: 49 of 55

MaxMara
Asian: 3 (Lakshmi Menon, Liu Wen, twice; Tao Okamoto)
Black: 1 (Rose Cordero)
Latina: 1 (Aline Weber)
White; 36 of 42

Missoni
Asian: 1 (Liu Wen)
Black: 0
Latina: 0
White: 36 of 37

Moschino
Asian: 1 (Tao Okamoto)
Black: 0
Latina: 2 (Viviane Orth, Daiane Conterato)
White: 41 of 44

Moschino Cheap & Chic
Asian: 0
Black: 1 (Jourdan Dunn)
Latina: 0
White: 38 of 39

Pollini
Asian: 2 (Tao Okamoto, twice; Liu Wen)
Black: 0
Latina: 3 (Raquel Zimmermann, twice; Marina Peres, Daiane Conterato)
White: 25 of 32

Prada
Asian: 0
Black: 0
Latina: 1 (Marina Peres)
White: 39 of 40

Pucci
Asian: 1 (Liu Wen)
Black: 1 (Jourdan Dunn)
Latina: 0
White: 39 of 41

Roberto Cavalli
Asian: 2 (Daul Kim, Liu Wen)
Black: 1 (Chanel Iman)
Latina: 1 (Marina Peres)
White: 31 of 35

Salvatore Ferragamo
Asian: 0
Black: 0
Latina: 1 (Bruna Tenorio, twice)
White: 40 of 42

Sportmax
Asian: 1 (Tao Okamoto, twice)
Black: 1 (Aminata Niaria, twice)
Latina: 1 (Marina Peres, twice)
White: 46 of 52

Versace
Asian: 0
Black: 1 (Jourdan Dunn, twice)
Latina: 3 (Raquel Zimmermann, three times; Isabeli Fontana, twice; Bruna Tenorio)
White: 47 of 55

Should we really be surprised? Shawn Sutton, an up and coming Black model, told the New York Times that casting sheets at model castings for the recent Milan men's wear shows actually said, "No Blacks".

So much for a "post-racial" society, huh?

The Washington Post Interviews Desirée Rogers

Recently, The Washington Post interviewed one of our favorite fashionistas, Desirée Rogers for their "Voices of Power" series. In the interviews, Ms. Rogers talks about her role as the White House Social Secretary, how Michelle Obama will define her role as First Lady, race relations, as well as the Obamas plans on opening the White House to the people.

For the entire "Voices of Power" series of interviews with Ms. Rogers, click here.