"Black society was never able to
participate, and Mrs. Johnson made her own society," says model Pat
Cleveland, who got her start modeling for the Ebony Fashion Fair in 1965 at age
14. "She was able to express what it was like to be able to be a luxurious
woman."
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) never ceases to
amazing me with some of their life and style coverage – which is why the publication
is one of my daily reads. Recently, Christina Binkley, WSJ Style Reporter,
wrote an outstanding piece on Mrs. Eunice Johnson, cultural icon and creator of
the Ebony Fashion Fair.
Some outstanding pieces that were a part of Mrs.
Johnson’s wardrobe (she died in 2010) will be on display next Spring at the
Chicago History Museum. The article also details her close relationship with designer Yves Saint Laurent and contains interviews
with fashion luminaries Audrey Smaltz and Pat Cleveland.
