LEGENDARY: Eunice Johnson, Our Fashion Fair Lady (1916-2010)

(Photo: EbonyJet.com)

Grace and class are two words family and friends use to describe Eunice Walker Johnson, the founder of Johnson Publishing, Ebony Fashion Fair and Fashion Fair Cosmetics, who passed away Sunday at the age of 93.

Eunice Johnson looking over sketches with Yves St. Laurent

(Photo: EbonyJet.com)

Mrs. Johnson was a visionary who understood that image is everything to the Black community. Armed with luxurious haute couture gowns, statuesque brown beauties and a runway, Mrs. Johnson sought to redefine the image of the Black woman. She forced fashion designers to take notice of the beauty of Black women and how our darker hues could accentuate or enhance their designs. At the same time, Mrs. Johnson introduced us to a world of luxury and art, and helped to elevate our self-esteem. “She was an astute fashion person who had more than just fashion in her background. She was an interior designer. She was a lover of art", says Audrey Smaltz, founder of The Ground Crew, a fashion show production company, and former Ebony Fashion Fair commentor from 1970-1977. "She introduced me to luxury, art and culture way beyond what I went to school for. I graduated with an art degree. She took me to a Ph.D.”

The Ebony Fashion Fair began in 1956 as an idea by the late Jessie Covington Dent, who was looking to put on a fashion show that would benefit the Women's Auxillary of Flint-Goodroch Hospital in New Orleans. Enter the late John H. Johnson, founder of Johnson Publishing Company and the husband of Mrs. Johnson. The show was a success and Mr. Johnson, along with his wife, decided to expand it into a multi-city traveling fashion show to help raise money for other charities. Over the years, Ebony Fashion Fair raised more than $55 million for various charity organizations.

In the beginning it was rough. Many designers refused to sell their clothing to Mrs. Johnson because, according to Mr. Johnson, they were concerned that "white women wouldn’t value their designs if they were worn by Black women". However, through perserverance and her Southern charm, Mrs. Johnson won them over, becoming the largest buyer of European haute couture, according to Kenneth Owen, assistant producer of Ebony Fashion Fair.

Via the Ebony Fashion Fair, Mrs. Johnson was also instrumental in launching the careers of some of today's fashion legends like Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, and Pierre Cardin when they were the new kids on the runway. The work of Black designers, like B. Michael, Willi Smith, Patrick Kelly and Stephen Burrows were also regularly featured throughout the years. Pat Cleveland, one of the first Black supermodels, cut her teeth on the Ebony Fashion Fair circuit, as did actor, Richard Roundtree and TV personality, Janet Langhart Cohen.

Mrs. Johnson is survived by her daughter, Linda Johnson Rice and granddaughter, Alexa Christina Rice. In honor of Mrs. Johnson's philanthropy and contribution to the fashion industry, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will hold a special tribute on January 11th. According to EbonyJet.com, this event was planned months in advance prior to Mrs. Johnson's passing.

(SOURCE: EbonyJet.com)

Ebony Fashion Fair Shuts Down Its Runway For 2009

After 51 years of dazzling runways across the globe, the Ebony Fashion Fair show has called it quits --- for now. Citing economic hardship and the lack of sponsors, Johnson Publishing CEO, Linda Johnson Rice has decided to cancel the fall 2009 shows.

From The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Annual Ebony Fashion Fair show is a victim of economy

By Naomi Nix
Inquirer Staff Writer

Mina Dia-Stevens recalls looking around the auditorium of an Ebony Fashion Fair show as a young adult and knowing that there were other African American fashionistas out there, from a cluster of giddy sorority college girls to a group of churchgoing women.

"They are exposing African Americans to world-renowned designers that they may not have known otherwise," said Dia-Stevens, who is an adjunct professor at Moore College of Art and Design and an associate professor at the Art Institute of Philadelphia.

And it's coming to an end, at least for now.

After more than 50 years of showcasing the highest caliber of fashion in the industry to mostly African American audiences, organizers of the traveling international fashion show have canceled its fall 2009 installment.

The Philadelphia Cultural Committee Inc., the nonprofit organization that has hosted the program annually in Philadelphia or New Jersey for 50 years, is among 180 organizations that will not put on a show this fall.

"The overall economic climate has presented challenges for many, including our potential corporate sponsors," said Linda Johnson Rice, the chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Co., in a statement.

The firm, which publishes Ebony and Jet magazines, hopes to bring back a retooled show starting in fall 2010.

"In the coming months, we will develop a new business model to ensure that the show is a mutually beneficial endeavor," said Rice.

As a nonprofit endeavor, the Ebony Fashion Fair show has raised more than $55 million to benefit largely African American groups nationwide, according to Jeanine Collins, a spokeswoman for Johnson Publishing.

The Philadelphia Cultural Committee uses part of its $15,000 to $20,000 in proceeds to give scholarships to college-bound high school students who are interested in the arts.

Each year it gives $1,000 to five or six students who are pursuing higher education in New Jersey, Philadelphia, or Delaware. The remaining money goes to local charities.

"If we do not have the Ebony Fashion Fair show, it's going to be a deterrent to giving scholarships," said Gwendolyn A. Faison, president of the Philadelphia Cultural Committee.

Faison said the committee is meeting to discuss alternative fund-raising.

Over 4,000 shows have been performed to date in the United States, the Caribbean, and London, according to a representative from the publishing company.

The featured clothing includes cutting-edge couture fresh off the runways of Fashion Week as well as ready-to-wear "extravagant" pieces, said Cheryl Washington, a fashion designer and an adjunct professor at Moore College of Art and Design.

"It is a multitude of talent from all over the world," she said.

The show has exhibited the work of several notable African American designers, including Stephen Burrows, James Daugherty, L'Amour, B. Michael, and Quinton de' Alexander.

It was started in 1956 to support the Women's Auxiliary of Flint-Goodrich Hospital in New Orleans by John Johnson, then publisher and CEO of Johnson Publishing.

But Dia-Stevens says the show is more than just a few models strutting the latest fashions on the runway.

"When you see the show, it's like a performance - it's ambience, it's atmosphere," she said. "It is more theatrical than it is anything."

Thinking of her 14-year-old daughter, Dia-Stevens hopes to keep her family's appreciation for fashion alive.

"It is a special event that I would definitely want to experience with my daughter," she said.

These are trying times for the Johnson Publishing Company. The economy has taken a toll on its crown jewel, Ebony magazine, which may result in the sale of the magazine, and now they are forced to shut down what is considered a rate of passage fpr African American women.

Is this the end of a legendary era? Will a part of African American culture be lost?

Will high profile Black models, such as Tyra Banks or Ebony Fashion Fair show alumnus, Pat Cleveland, step in to rescue the Ebony Fashion Fair show?

Stay tuned...