*The Ebony Fashion Fair is celebrated on this date in 1958. (also known as the Ebony Traveling Fashion Fair) was an annual fashion event created by Eunice Johnson, co-founder of Johnson Publishing Company.
In 1956, John H. Johnson, founder of the Johnson Publishing Company, was approached by Jessie Dent (the wife of the president of Dillard University) to supply models for a charity fundraiser benefiting the Flint-Goodridge Hospital on Dillard University's New Orleans campus. Reluctant to use the models featured in the magazines published by his company, Johnson instead offered to provide the clothing.
Johnson and Dent then agreed: Johnson Publishing Company would supply the garments for the fundraiser, and each ticket to enter the show would include a subscription to either Ebony or Jet Magazine—both published by Johnson's company. The show ran nationally and globally from 1958 until 2009. In addition to the fashion fair, the company also created a cosmetic line named Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973.
Over its 51-year run, the Ebony Fashion Fair traveled to 30 cities, providing exclusive fashion to "hundreds of thousands of attendees across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean." The show was in 187 venues with audiences as large as 5,000 attendees. The Ebony Fashion Fair helped boost the Johnson Publishing Company's brand identity and raised $55 million in funds for Black charities.
The show featured male and female models of mostly African descent modeling fashions from top European designers such as Yves St Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino, and Emanuel Ungaro. The Fashion Fair held its last show in 2009, after Eunice Walker's death in January 2010.
As of 2017, Fashion Fair Cosmetics is still available for purchase.
