African-American beauty is scarcely recognized in the high-fashion world, therefore, African-American institutions, like Ebony magazine, promote such beauty to help show Blacks “in good light,” while raising money for various causes. Robin Givhan of the Washington Post wrote a feature piece, Ebony on the runway , in early January on the 48th annual Ebony Fashion Fair, which is a fashion show that features fashion designs modeled by African-Americans.

The show has continued to draw big crowds, but of a different age and demographic than its origins, which has contributed to the fashion labels that are featured in the show. Givhan writes:

Fashion Fair … is showing the effects of age. Its audience no longer is filled with the kind of young men and women who once vamped in their own designer duds, giving the show its heady aura … Old-guard designer names -- Givenchy, Bill Blass, Thierry Mugler -- dominate this year's show, titled ‘Fit to Be Fabulous.’ Big-buzz, directional labels such as Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga and Prada are scarce.

While it is obvious that the choice of designers featured in the show must reflect the aging target market/audience of the African-American-centric show, there is also a race issue involved, dealing with the high-end, elitist designer’s image, and how it may be affected when featured in such a race-centered show. Would it be the best marketing and image strategy for big designer labels like Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga, or Prada to show their designs in such a Black celebrated show?

Givhan solely attributes the choice of clothing to that of the age group (target market) and ignores the issues of race, high-elitist fashion houses, and their image in the present-day shows’ clothing choices. I am appalled that this issue is not explored in this aspect.

High-end, elitist fashion institutions will not let a small, yet profitable show, feature their designs; they barely let more than a handful of Black fashion models (ie: Naomi Campbell, Liya Kebede) strut their runway.

Similarly, Givhan later writes:

Johnson Publishing purchases them (clothing) all, rather than borrowing them, which is the norm. In part, this grew out of a legacy of racial discrimination … Forty years ago, it went without saying that no designer would lend expensive clothes to Negroes.

While Givhan fails to press this issue when dealing with the show’s struggle to gain access to higher-end labels, she does mention another fashion/race-related issue. She writes:

It's still rare that black models are on the cover of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar or Glamour. It's rarer still when they sign endorsement deals with design houses or cosmetics firms … the industry still doesn't understand the buying power of African American consumers.

And that seems to be the real issue at hand, not the aging of the audience and its demographic.

Note to Readers

This blog will deal with subjects pertaining to the business aspect, including marketing, retailing, and merchandising (to name a few), of the fashion industry. Whether it is coverage and analysis of the meaning of trends to our society and how they will reflect in profit margins for companies, or the impact of current events (ie: trade pacts, outsourcing, legislation) on the performance of the fashion industry, I will explore to the best of my ability related topics that arise.