50 years of Ebony
Fashion Fair
Jean Patou by Christian Lacroix, 1986-87
Inspiring Beauty
50 years of Ebony Fashion Fair
Chicago History Museum
16 March 2013 – 5 January 2014
Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair
recreates the experience of the Ebony Fashion Fair
through the story of Mrs. Johnson and more than 60
garments from icons of the fashion industry such as
Yves St. Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Pierre Cardin,
Emanuel Ungaro, Christian Lacroix, and Patrick Kelly
among others.
The Ebony Fashion Fair began in 1958, and over the next 50
years the traveling fashion show blossomed into an American
institution that raised millions for charity and helped Johnson
Publishing Company reach audiences.
Show organizers overcame racial prejudice to bring the pinnacle
of Europe’s premier fashion to communities that were eager to see,
in real time and space, a new vision of black America that was the
hallmark of Ebony and Jet magazines. Eunice Johnson took over as
producer and director in 1963, and under her direction, the traveling
show took on new heights as she expanded her cachet and power
within fashion circles.
Henry Jackson, 2005
A vintage picture from an Ebony Fashion Fair
Eunice Johnson with Alva Chin in Valentino, 1975
source: chicagohistory.org
