The Darling of the Fashonistas
by Maureen Jenkins
JANUARY 26, 2010 TAGS:
Star-studded events are de rigueur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which honors fashion icons of great renown. But earlier this month, the institute feted Ebony Fashion Fair founder Eunice W. Johnson, even though much of the country didn’t know who she was.
Johnson, 93, died Jan. 3 in Chicago, where in the 1940s her late husband, John H. Johnson, founded Johnson Publishing Co., and launched Ebony and Jet, magazines that helped black folks shape positive self-images during the days of segregated America. Billed as “the world’s largest traveling fashion show” and kicked off in 1958, the Fashion Fair gave black models a showcase and black audiences a chance to see designer apparel in fund-raising shows staged in small towns and big cities across America. More than 4,000 shows raised an estimated $55 million funds for African American charities and non-profits.
Although the Ebony Fashion Fair’s 2009-2010 season was officially canceled for first time in its 51-year history, the Costume Institute celebrated its impact and Johnson’s cultural legacy. Bill Clinton said Eunice Johnson “had an ageless vitality that I hope will live on forever through these shows.”
Whoopi Goldberg was there; so was Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley. White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers — a close friend of Johnson’s daughter, Johnson Publishing Chairman and CEO Linda Johnson Rice — read a tribute from the president and first lady. And staged on mannequins at the Institute were garments from Fashion Fair events, created by Bob Mackie, André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin.
Why the tribute? “Though Mrs. Johnson was widely celebrated in her lifetime for her philanthropic and cultural contributions, we were surprised that the fashion community had never cited her important role in launching the careers of so many African Americans in the fashion business, or for her role in using the Ebony Fashion Fair to reinforce a positive sense of identity and empowerment through style,” said Harold Koda, Costume Institute curator. “Fashion has a very short memory, and we seek to celebrate the people who made breakthroughs in our culture, but whose achievements are unfamiliar to the wider public.”
Indeed, the fashion world might never have seen supermodels Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks if a sashaying Pat Cleveland hadn’t pioneered the way. And there may not have been a Pat Cleveland — one of the first black models to strut international runways — if it hadn’t been for Johnson.
“Mrs. Johnson saw my picture and gave me a wonderful opportunity. She said, ‘You can do it, girl,’” said Cleveland, who launched her career through the Fashion Fair at age 14 — the show’s youngest model ever. “She turned me, a little something, into a model. And she did that for so many.”
Born Eunice Walker in Selma, Ala., Johnson came from a well-educated family. Her father practiced medicine for more than 50 years; her mother was a high school principal and taught education and art at Selma University, a college founded by her father. Each of Johnson’s three siblings earned medical or doctorate degrees, while she studied art at Talladega College in Alabama.
The current Johnson Publishing headquarters — reportedly the only black-owned office building in downtown Chicago — is filled with African, Caribbean and African-American art personally chosen by Johnson. And it was Johnson who came up with the name Ebony for the publisher’s iconic magazine. Said Cleveland: “She put her energy into making things beautiful for everyone.”
Johnson often stepped into roles that were nontraditional at the time, including as a business partner to her husband, whom she met at a dance hall and married in 1941. When he founded Negro Digest, the forerunner to Ebony, she worked alongside.
“This was not a woman standing behind her husband, but standing shoulder-to-shoulder,” said longtime friend Leigh Jones, a Chicago hairstylist who coiffed Johnson’s hair for decades.
Many non-profit organizations that hosted the Ebony Fashion Fair channeled their funds into educational support, a cause dear to Johnson’s heart.
“She thought education was the door out of every dilemma,” said Jones. “Her biggest legacy … was the [money] she gave to historically black colleges and universities, many of which might not still be alive without the money she gave every year” through the Fashion Fair. “That was her credo — she lived, slept, ate and drank it. That’s what defined her more than anything else.”
Johnson also helped begin the ethnic cosmetics industry. At first, Johnson’s models struggled to find makeup that matched their skin tones. Johnson and her husband launched Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973.
Clinton acknowledged this landmark at the Met.
“The cosmetics issue may seem frivolous to people who’ve never been on the short end of what it was like before,” he said. “People whose skin was different from others and had no way of getting cosmetics that worked. It’s a very big deal. It makes a statement that goes way beyond the time it takes to put the makeup on.”
In the early days, designers weren’t eager to lend Johnson their prêt-a-porter and couture pieces. So she bought them, thousands and thousands of dollars worth each season. “It didn’t take long,” said Jones, “for her to become the darling of the fashionistas.
“In the old days, Fashion Fair models couldn’t stay in certain hotels. But Eunice Johnson was the eternal optimist. She always found a way to get around [obstacles]. She dolled herself up, but it was never about her, but always about the rest of us, trying to bring everybody along. But along the way, she managed to get everything she wanted.”
Johnson understood the impact of introducing high fashion to African Americans.
“She really wanted all children to be exposed to things that they might not necessarily get a chance to see,” said Rice, Johnson’s daughter. “I was very blessed. I traveled with her at a young age to Europe and she wanted me to see every statue, every monument, and visit every museum, so that I could have an understanding of the world at large and the cultural impact that art has on the world.”
Surely Johnson did that for all the people who saw Ebony Fashion Fair or who attended the colleges and universities that Johnson’s shows supported.
“She used to try to tip me at the salon,” remembered Jones. “I said to her, ‘You can’t give me no money; you gave me a life, girlfriend.’ When I was a little black boy growing up, looking at those magazines, it made me imagine what I could be.”
(First Photo: The iconic Eunice W. Johnson joins Ebony Fashion Fair models during a Spring 1991 show. (Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.)
(Second Photo: Eunice W. Johnson visits with French designer Yves Saint Laurent. (Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.)
(Third Photo: Eunice W. Johnson is joined by the late John H. Johnson (l) and daughter Linda Johnson Rice, current chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing Co. (Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.)
Maureen Jenkins is a Chicago-based freelance writer who spent years covering fashion—and the Ebony Fashion Fair in various venues—for newspapers including The Oregonian, Arizona Republic, and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Johnson, 93, died Jan. 3 in Chicago, where in the 1940s her late husband, John H. Johnson, founded Johnson Publishing Co., and launched Ebony and Jet, magazines that helped black folks shape positive self-images during the days of segregated America. Billed as “the world’s largest traveling fashion show” and kicked off in 1958, the Fashion Fair gave black models a showcase and black audiences a chance to see designer apparel in fund-raising shows staged in small towns and big cities across America. More than 4,000 shows raised an estimated $55 million funds for African American charities and non-profits.Although the Ebony Fashion Fair’s 2009-2010 season was officially canceled for first time in its 51-year history, the Costume Institute celebrated its impact and Johnson’s cultural legacy. Bill Clinton said Eunice Johnson “had an ageless vitality that I hope will live on forever through these shows.”
Whoopi Goldberg was there; so was Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley. White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers — a close friend of Johnson’s daughter, Johnson Publishing Chairman and CEO Linda Johnson Rice — read a tribute from the president and first lady. And staged on mannequins at the Institute were garments from Fashion Fair events, created by Bob Mackie, André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin.
Why the tribute? “Though Mrs. Johnson was widely celebrated in her lifetime for her philanthropic and cultural contributions, we were surprised that the fashion community had never cited her important role in launching the careers of so many African Americans in the fashion business, or for her role in using the Ebony Fashion Fair to reinforce a positive sense of identity and empowerment through style,” said Harold Koda, Costume Institute curator. “Fashion has a very short memory, and we seek to celebrate the people who made breakthroughs in our culture, but whose achievements are unfamiliar to the wider public.”
Indeed, the fashion world might never have seen supermodels Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks if a sashaying Pat Cleveland hadn’t pioneered the way. And there may not have been a Pat Cleveland — one of the first black models to strut international runways — if it hadn’t been for Johnson.
“Mrs. Johnson saw my picture and gave me a wonderful opportunity. She said, ‘You can do it, girl,’” said Cleveland, who launched her career through the Fashion Fair at age 14 — the show’s youngest model ever. “She turned me, a little something, into a model. And she did that for so many.”Born Eunice Walker in Selma, Ala., Johnson came from a well-educated family. Her father practiced medicine for more than 50 years; her mother was a high school principal and taught education and art at Selma University, a college founded by her father. Each of Johnson’s three siblings earned medical or doctorate degrees, while she studied art at Talladega College in Alabama.
The current Johnson Publishing headquarters — reportedly the only black-owned office building in downtown Chicago — is filled with African, Caribbean and African-American art personally chosen by Johnson. And it was Johnson who came up with the name Ebony for the publisher’s iconic magazine. Said Cleveland: “She put her energy into making things beautiful for everyone.”
Johnson often stepped into roles that were nontraditional at the time, including as a business partner to her husband, whom she met at a dance hall and married in 1941. When he founded Negro Digest, the forerunner to Ebony, she worked alongside.
“This was not a woman standing behind her husband, but standing shoulder-to-shoulder,” said longtime friend Leigh Jones, a Chicago hairstylist who coiffed Johnson’s hair for decades.
Many non-profit organizations that hosted the Ebony Fashion Fair channeled their funds into educational support, a cause dear to Johnson’s heart.
“She thought education was the door out of every dilemma,” said Jones. “Her biggest legacy … was the [money] she gave to historically black colleges and universities, many of which might not still be alive without the money she gave every year” through the Fashion Fair. “That was her credo — she lived, slept, ate and drank it. That’s what defined her more than anything else.”
Johnson also helped begin the ethnic cosmetics industry. At first, Johnson’s models struggled to find makeup that matched their skin tones. Johnson and her husband launched Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973.
Clinton acknowledged this landmark at the Met.
“The cosmetics issue may seem frivolous to people who’ve never been on the short end of what it was like before,” he said. “People whose skin was different from others and had no way of getting cosmetics that worked. It’s a very big deal. It makes a statement that goes way beyond the time it takes to put the makeup on.”
In the early days, designers weren’t eager to lend Johnson their prêt-a-porter and couture pieces. So she bought them, thousands and thousands of dollars worth each season. “It didn’t take long,” said Jones, “for her to become the darling of the fashionistas.
“In the old days, Fashion Fair models couldn’t stay in certain hotels. But Eunice Johnson was the eternal optimist. She always found a way to get around [obstacles]. She dolled herself up, but it was never about her, but always about the rest of us, trying to bring everybody along. But along the way, she managed to get everything she wanted.”Johnson understood the impact of introducing high fashion to African Americans.
“She really wanted all children to be exposed to things that they might not necessarily get a chance to see,” said Rice, Johnson’s daughter. “I was very blessed. I traveled with her at a young age to Europe and she wanted me to see every statue, every monument, and visit every museum, so that I could have an understanding of the world at large and the cultural impact that art has on the world.”
Surely Johnson did that for all the people who saw Ebony Fashion Fair or who attended the colleges and universities that Johnson’s shows supported.
“She used to try to tip me at the salon,” remembered Jones. “I said to her, ‘You can’t give me no money; you gave me a life, girlfriend.’ When I was a little black boy growing up, looking at those magazines, it made me imagine what I could be.”
(First Photo: The iconic Eunice W. Johnson joins Ebony Fashion Fair models during a Spring 1991 show. (Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.)
(Second Photo: Eunice W. Johnson visits with French designer Yves Saint Laurent. (Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.)
(Third Photo: Eunice W. Johnson is joined by the late John H. Johnson (l) and daughter Linda Johnson Rice, current chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing Co. (Courtesy of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.)
Maureen Jenkins is a Chicago-based freelance writer who spent years covering fashion—and the Ebony Fashion Fair in various venues—for newspapers including The Oregonian, Arizona Republic, and the Chicago Sun-Times.
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