Ebony Fashion Fair
Ebony Fashion Fair Magazine 1996-1997, published to accompany the Ebony Fashion Fair
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
The Ebony Fashion Fair was an annual fashion event created by Eunice Johnson, co–founder of the Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Company. The show traveled across the United States and other countries between 1958 and 2009. Inspired by the photographs published in Ebony magazine, the Fashion Fair helped redefine beauty, style, and empowerment for African Americans.
Mount Mary University hosted four sold-out Ebony Fashion Fairs between 1996 and 2001. The Mount Mary Friends of Fashion subsequently purchased 34 Ebony Fashion Fair designer garments for inclusion in the Fashion Archive. In 2015 Mount Mary was a presenting sponsor of Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
