Black people have had a huge influence on fashion and beauty throughout the years. Many of the trends you see today have been influenced by black culture. If you’re interested in learning more about influential black people throughout the history of fashion, and the impact they have made in the industry. I have compiled a list of books to checkout for Black History month and beyond. Vintage Black Glamour Vintage Black Glamour celebrates some of the most glamorous, inspiri[...]
Arthur L. McGee was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1933. At the age of 18, he entered a contest to win a scholarship to attend Traphagen School of Design in New York and won after submitting the winning design. His inspiration came from his mother, who created her own fashions. Arthur went on to study millinery and apparel design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). While attending FIT he began working for the American couturier Charles James. He later produced his own designs while pur[...]
Meet Designers Darlene and Lizzy Okpo “I definitely am a big Black History buff. When you observe the women of our history, their style was amazing.” ~Darlene Sisters Darlene and Lizzy Okpo were born in the Bronx, NY, to Nigerian immigrant parents. Their inspiration comes from their parent's personal style with American culture. With both Darlene and Lizzy's love of fashion, they created a women’s wear collection named after their father, William Okpo. Their brand represents the “imm[...]
Meet Designer Charles Harbison "My heritage and culture are definite influences in how I approach fashion, but my final responsibility is simply to create good design. I'm just excited to be a part of the conversation of "black fashion" and continue to further the range of what that means." Charles Elliott Harbison was born in Lincolnton, NC. Being a child of the 80s, he could remember his mother wearing a colorful power suit regularly. She was his first muse. As a way of spending time[...]
Meet Designer Mimi Plange Mimi Plange was born in Accra, Ghana, and grew up in Southern California. She's been attracted to art at a very young age, its creation, its many faces, and its meanings. The art led her to a passion for clothes. She was hooked on the incredible fantasy that one could actually design beautiful clothing for a living and that was exactly what she wanted to do. Plange stayed focused on that idea, and as a child, she knew that it was what she was going to do, “I just[...]
Meet Designer Ozwald Boateng Ozwald Boateng was born in 1968 in London, England to Ghanaian immigrant parents. Back in Ghana his mother had worked in the fabric business and took in custom work as a seamstress in England. At the age of 5, Boateng's mother made him a purple mohair suit that quickly became his favorite outfit. At 16, Boateng began dating a girl he met at a London technical college, she showed him how to sew and make clothes. Soon after Boateng had switched his major from comput[...]
Who Is Laquan Smith? Laquan Smith’s designing all began at the age of 13 when his grandmother passed down her old Singer sewing machine for him to use. From then on he began creating garments. At the age of 17, Smith was diagnosed with cancer, he pushed through until he won the battle. Once he graduated from high school, he began to pursue a career in fashion. After applying and not being accepted to the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons School of Design, he began interning at th[...]
28 Days Of Black Fashion Since today is the first day of Black History Month, I wanted to dedicate the next 28 days to something that I love, Fashion! So for the next 28 days, I will be posting everything about black fashion, from black fashion designers, black shoe designers to black fashion stylists, black fashion models, and black fashion icons. So sit back and enjoy the next 28 days of Black Fashion! Naomi Campbell is my all-time favorite black fashion models. She has helped pave the way f[...]