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From The Philadelphia Inquirer: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.
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.
“There is nothing sadder than an old, broke model, and there are many models who have nothing at the end of their career.”Ms. Sims' success in the fashion industry was a victory for all Black women. Every magazine cover, every editorial spread helped to redefine society's concept of beauty, as well as strengthen our self-esteem. As Ms. Sims overcame in couture, she took us along for the ride.
“It’s ‘in’ to use me...and maybe some people do it when they don’t really like me. But even if they are prejudiced, they have to be tactful if they want a good picture.” -- Naomi Sims
First Lady Michelle Obama
Wanda Sykes
Kerry Washington looking fab in J. Mendel
Alicia Keys
Forest Whitaker and wife, Keisha
Melody Hobson...When informed that the First Lady had worked a few Europeans into her wardrobe of late — Alaïa, Moschino, Etro — Oscar de la Renta said at his bridal show Monday: “Our industry right now is having a very difficult time. I think it would be great if the First Lady dressed in American styles. There are a lot of talented people here too.” (Source: WWD)Well, the last time I checked, Jason Wu, Tracy Reese, Isabel Toledo, Michael Kors, Thakoon, and Narcisco Rodriguez -- designers that Mrs. Obama wears -- ARE AMERICAN DESIGNERS.
"The designers say that Michelle will help the struggling fashion industry if she spreads her sartorial self around. But it's hard not to read in their complaint a note of condescension. How can Michelle, who comes from a working class background and probably doesn't know the difference between silk ziberline and silk twill, dare to snub them?"But this isn't the first time they have talked slick about FLOTUS. For several months now, I've noticed how articles have taken a certain tone towards Mrs. Obama, and her good friends Desirée Rogers and Valerie Jarrett. I wrote about such an article that appeared in Town & Country magazine. These articles come across as either "shock and awe" that Black women are fashionable and wear high-end designers, or they give "advice" on how these sistas should conduct themselves.
"Mrs Obama is certainly stylish and very good looking," de la Renta has told WWD. "It will be great for any American designer to dress her." (Source: Instyle.com)
Upon returning to the U.S., Ms. Church organized her own fashion couture shows, using her sizable collection of couture pieces she amassed during her modeling days in Europe. Working with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Ms. Church toured the country bringing never-before-seen fashion to the masses. In Barbara Summer's Black and Beautiful: How Women of Color Changed the Fashion Industry“If you’re beautiful, they don’t care what color you are,” [Ms. Church] said of the French, describing her days in the couture salons and nights in postwar Paris.
“I got invited out all the time,” she said in Barbara Summers’s 1998 book “Black and Beautiful.” “I was the only black model in Europe and I just thought I was an international person.” (Source: NYTimes.com)
, Ms. Church says, “I feel that my going all over America with my show had a great influence on American black women dressing differently and feeling good about themselves...I saw them dressing more creatively, more internationally. They could say, ‘If she can do it, I can do it, too.’"
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