50 years of fashion and beauty

Ebony, August, 1995 by Lynn Norment

IN 1945, when EBONY published its first issue, Blacks were barred from the mainstream of the fashion industry, and there were no major Black models or clothing designers. Cosmetics and advertisements were geared to White complexions, and, consequently, Black women almost never saw themselves reflected in marketing campaigns for beauty products.

From the beginning, EBONY was a champion of Black beauty, leading the fight for national recognition of Black models and the use of Blacks in advertisements and the media in general. In his autobiography, Succeeding Against the Odds, Publisher John H. Johnson says: "We were fascinated from the beginning by the different hues [smoke, cinnamon, chocolate, cream, golden, pecan, coffee] in the Black rainbow, and we were astonished by the inability of White Americans to appreciate that beauty. We didn't apologize for it--it was part of our mission, as we noted in our July 1946 issue." Throughout 50 years of publishing, EBONY has demonstrated its commitment to that mission. The magazine's early issues featured fashionable Black women, such as Lena Home, Katherine Dunham, Dorothy Dandridge, Marian Anderson and Etta Moten Barnett.

The National Association of Fashion and Accessory Designers was organized in 1950 under the sponsorship of the National Council of Negro Women as a professional organization for the growing number of Black women in the fashion industry. A 1953 EBONY issue featured an article on "The Ten Best-dressed Negro Women In America," as designated by the Association's members. The prestigious list included Black entertainers as well as professional women and socialites, such as a Washington attorney, a Spelman College professor, and the wife of a prominent New York businessman.

In the article, best-dressed subject Etta Moten Barnett confided that she had a small wardrobe with an abundance of shoes and other accessories. "Nothing makes me feel as well-dressed as a good-looking suit and accessories to match," she said. On the other hand, Marian Anderson said she disliked fussy clothes, but realized the importance of dressing attractively for her concert performances. She even carried a sewing machine with her during her extensive travels.

Black seamstress Anne Lowe designed Jacqueline Bouvier's bridal gown for her 1953 wedding to John F. Kennedy. Lowe, who died in 1981 at age 82, was a favored dressmaker for wealthy socialites, including the Rockefellers, the Posts, the Biddles and the DuPonts.

In 1954, EBONY featured a story on the National Urban League Guild's Beaux Arts Ball held at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Described as "Negro society's biggest, gayest, most cosmopolitan and glamorous social event of the year," it was attended by 3,500 elaborately costumed celebrants of all walks' of life, both Black and White.

In the '50s, only a handful of Black models were able to find work, mostly at Black publications such as EBONY. Among the pioneering Black models were Sara Lou Harris, who was the first Black model to appear in national advertisements and who won praise in Europe; and Dorothea Towles, who became the first Black model to work for top designers in Paris.

In the late 1950s, the Ebony Fashion Fair show was launched with Freda DeKnight as director, and the traveling extravaganza quickly emerged as a major force in the fashion industry. Producer-director Eunice W. Johnson, who began producing the fashion show in 1963, personally visited--and still does--the showrooms of the world's premier fashion houses to select creations from the most prestigious designers. During the early days, however, there were some designers who refused to sell their garments to the company. Regardless, the director persisted, and the show is now well-known and respected throughout fashion circles in Europe and the United States.

With its beautiful bronze complexioned models, the Ebony Fashion Fair advanced the concept that Black women can wear brilliant hues, including reds, yellows and purples, colors that once were shunned by Black women. The show, which will celebrate its 38th year this fall, annually attracts more than 300,000 viewers. It has raised more than $41 million for various charities.

Over the years, it has featured the works of noted Black designers, including the late Patrick Kelly and Willi Smith, both of whom received international acclaim for their creations. The careers of a number of famous models and actors also were launched in the pages of EBONY and on the stage of the Ebony Fashion Fair. Among them are Diahann Carroll, Pat Cleveland and Richard Roundtree.

In the '60s as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, New York's Madison Avenue, the nation's fashion center, gave in to pressure to use brown-skinned models with ethnic features. Veteran Black model agencies began to thrive, and White agencies started catering to Black models. Even mannequins with African-American features began to appear in the store windows along Madison Avenue and around the country.

The nation's major corporations were encouraged by the New York City labor department, with support from the American Association of Advertising Agencies, to run print and broadcast ads featuring "integrated" models. A 1968 print ad for a clothing company featured a White female and Black male model, one of the first to so integrate its national ad campaign.