The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) will host Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair,
a new exhibit honoring the traveling fashion show that brought European couture fashions to the African-American community.
Initiated by Eunice Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Publishing Company, the Ebony Fashions Fairs have a long history in Atlanta and the Southeast (as well as many other parts of the Americas). Organized by the Chicago History Museum in cooperation with Johnson Publishing Company, Inspiring Beauty provides a glamorous retrospective experience on the 50-year history of the charity fashion shows. The exhibit demonstrates how the fashions of Christian Dior, Pierre Cardin, Yves Saint-Laurent, Patrick Kelly and others became a vehicle for African-American empowerment, pride and achievement. Objects in the exhibit include ensembles and accessories, as well as archival photos and videos that explore the runway shows and examine the history of the event.
The exhibit will be on display at MODA from October 19 through January 4, 2015, and will launch with an opening gala on Friday, October 17 to welcome honored guest Linda Johnson Rice.
A Brief History of the Ebony Fashion Fair:
Beginning in 1958, the Ebony Fashion Fair brought couture designs from Paris, Milan, New York and London to African Americans in more than 70 American cities. Founded by Eunice Johnson, the Fashion Fairs exposed ordinary African Americans to high fashions they would otherwise never be able to see, thus altering perceptions and conceptions of beauty.
The Ebony Fashion Fair provided a unique platform for audiences to experience the world's best fashions throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The show also provided a forum for black designers to be presented side by side with the world's leading fashion houses.
"My mother often spoke about the importance of African-American women feeling beautiful," says Linda Johnson Rice, chairman of the Johnson Publishing Company. "The Ebony Fashion Fair legacy represents an important part of the rich African-American cultural experience in American, and I am extremely excited that the exhibition is bringing my mother's vision to life in museums throughout the country."
Inspiring Beauty was developed by the Chicago History Museum in cooperation with Johnson Publishing Company, LLC, presented by the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C.
