TREND | The Enduring Legacy of Fashion Mogul Eunice Walker Johnson - An Ode to Black American Women

America with all her short comings is the greatest nation the world has ever seen. A significance component of her greatness steams from capitalism; the foundation for which our economic system is built upon. Unlike alternative models for example communism and socialism which are driven by a collectivist ideology either on the state or social level respectively; capitalism is characterized by individualism and the private entity's ability to produce products or services that successfully competes and meets the demands of a free market. 

While the term "capitalism" may have a negative connotation to some; in its essence the system is structured in a way that rewards the individual who in using their free will can create, own, and profit off of her creation for her own benefit.

Broadly speaking, from my own lived experience and my studies of Black women throughout American history our existence has been plagued by peculiar and complex issues that cut across various social facets - political, economic, cultural, and societal. In our patriarchal, misogynist, and racist culture Black women have been bestowed with the unique plight of our race, color, and sex. In America she must be consciously aware at all times of these realities both implicit and explicit and how best to actively engage in problem solving to establish congruence in her daily life. It is absolutely imperative that as a American citizen she utilizes all the tools at her disposal to guarantee the full and unconstrained enjoyment of her unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness - one major avenue that facilitates that actualization is to take advantage of capitalism. 

By engaging in capitalism as the producer she can assure her economic security is not in the fickle hands of individuals who seek to do her harm. In honing her ingenuity she is able to participate in the digital globalized free market, set her own price, profit, and create her own sense of stability. 

Throughout American history there have been women who refused to be reduced by the external conductions of their day - Madame CJ Walker, Maya Angelo, bell hooks, Michelle Obama and Ayn Rand - and in their pursuit of self actualization disrupted the status quo. Which brings me to the enduring legacy of the late fashion, beauty, and business pioneer Eunice Walker Johnson. 

In honor of Black History Month and Fashion Month I would like to take the time to acknowledge the contributions of Mrs. Johnson across fashion, cosmetics, publication, and business. Mrs. Johnson through the lens of fashion and beauty supported in uplifting Black Americans.   

Eunice Johnson together with her husband the late John H. Johnson founded the Johnson Publishing Company in 1942, a year after the couple married, and launched its first franchise Negro Digest, an African-American take on Reader's Digest. By 1943, the publication's circulation grew to 50,000. The success lead John to envision another magazine modeled after Life. Eunice who at the time was the company's secretary-treasurer suggested naming the new magazine Ebony. Ebony's first issue appeared in 1945 and sold out on the newsstands and Jet magazine followed thereafter in 1951. 

In addition to celebrity and news features, Ebony ran Fashion Fair, a section showcasing the season's highlights on African-American models. During the time in American history of overt racial discrimination, hostility, and segregation Fashion Fair was a radical act as black women were very much excluded from the realm of high fashion. In 1957, Ernestine Jessie Covington Dent the wife of Dillard University president Albert Dent suggested the Johnsons host a charity fashion show for a New Orleans hospital; it would set the course for Fashion Fair to evolve from the pages of Ebony into the world's largest traveling fashion show. Over the course of 50 years, The Ebony Fashion Fair would become a powerful philanthropic effort that raised more than $55 million for civil rights groups, hospitals, community centers, and scholarships for African-Americans. 

"There aren't many women who can say they were fitted for a suit by Coco Chanel..."

 - Linda Johnson Rice, Chairman and Chief Executive of Johnson Publishing and daughter of the late Eunice Walker Johnson 

In the face of great opposition, Mrs. Johnson's persistence and tenacity along with her deep pocketbook in tote set out to create a new narrative of Black American womanhood who wore the very best European haute couture had to offer. This was no small undertaking- her effects to cold call European designers to request invitations to their shows were not always well received, according to Audrey Smaltz, the head coordinator and commentator for the fair from 1970 until 1977, recounted "Valentino once told us we couldn't come to his show, and in his memoir Mr. Johnson wrote at first Mrs. Johnson had to "beg, persuade and threaten" European designers to sell their wears to a black woman - particularly during the height of the Civil Rights Moment when European designers were not keen on their clothes being wore by Black models. Linda Johnson Rice described her mother as "...a steel magnolia" coupled with her intelligence, persuasiveness and her ability to "look the part" was up for the challenge of bring her vision to life. 

During her tenure as the fashion editor of Ebony and director/producer of The Ebony Fashion Fair Mrs. Johnson by the ‘60s and‘70s would become a fixture and at times the only black face in the front row at the most sought after European fashion shows. By the mid-1960s she became the largest buyer of haute couture in the world, purchasing some 200 garments a year from the most sought after fashion labels such as Dior, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Emanuel Ungaro, Christian Lacroix, Pierre Cardin, and Courrèges. Mrs. Johnson amassed a collection estimating 8,000 garments and spent $1-1.5 million dollars per year on designer clothes. As a savvy consumer the clothes had to met a certain criteria: "It had to look as good going down the runway as it did coming back." In thinking through the production of the fashion show and how the clothes would come down the runway Mrs. Johnson also would commission a wrap to accompany a strapless evening gown so the model could slowly show off the dress as she walked. "You had to work it," according to Audrey Adams, who modeled during the 1975 season; "Be fabulous. And if you weren't fabulous, [Johnson] would take that outfit away and give it somebody who could carry it." 

From 1958 to 2009 The Ebony Fashion Fair toured the United States with hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of the finest designer clothes, a all Black staff, and Black models ready to bring to life new ideals of Black life and aspirations. The production during the early days confronted challenges as they traveled throughout the Jim Crow South and encountered the Ku Klux Klan. Yet along the way registered a number of break throughs including staging the first fashion show at the then known John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. In addition to The Ebony Fashion Fair Mrs. Johnson also created Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973 after noticing a gap in the market for darker hue make-up. The line curated to Black Women, were sold at top department stores, and its advertisements featured stars of the day like Diahann Carrol and Aretha Franklin. The success and popularity of the business influenced mainstream cosmetics companies - Revlon, Avon, and Max Factor to emulate the line expanding their offering to the marginalized consumer market. 

As a result of her determination, discipline, and audacity Mrs. Johnson dismantled barriers to entry for black models, nurtured emerging black editors, writers, and fashion designers - Patrick Kelly, Stephen Burrows, Henry Jackson, Willi Smith, B Michael, L'Amour and others . Mrs. Johnson servers as a framework for future entrepreneurs to not accept an unacceptable situation; to create and persist in their efforts to realize their unique talents.    

Citation

https://www.wmagazine.com/story/eunice-johnson-ebony-magazine

https://system-magazine.com/issues/issue-1/chronicles-of-chic-mrs-eunice-johnson 

https://news.wttw.com/2013/05/01/50-years-ebony-fashion

https://www.npr.org/2014/02/15/276987206/the-ebony-fashion-fair-changing-history-on-the-catwalk