fashion
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Dapper: Fashioning a Queer Aesthetic of Black Womanhood
“Ain’t I a woman?” Black feminist pioneer Sojourner Truth famously asked that question of an all-white audience of abolitionists and suffragettes in 1861, to point out the erasure of black women from the social “protections” of womanhood. A century and a half later, black women, from Misty Copeland and Serena Williams to first lady Michelle…
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Cynthia Bailey Knew She Was Beautiful the Moment She Realized She Didn’t Need Anyone to Validate That Beauty
When you look into Cynthia Bailey’s eyes, what you notice first isn’t how beautiful or intelligent she is (and she is); because with heart and soul, she radiates a warmth and kindness that overwhelm her two most famous characteristics. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Cynthia since she came to New York to become a…
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Azzedine Alaïa and Me
Azzedine Alaïa, the Tunisian-born French fashion designer, was one of the most influential talents the world of fashion will ever know, and one of the closest people in my life. Heartbreakingly, last week he died suddenly of heart failure at the age of 77. I met Azzedine on a casting call, shortly after I arrived…
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Get Haute for the Holidays With Veronica Marché and Her Line of Gorgeous Greeting Cards
Watching fashion illustrator Veronica Miller Jamison (also known as Veronica Marché) work is like watching an alchemical process: With a few deft strokes of her brushes, beauty emerges from a blank page. The Philly-based artist is known for her vibrant use of color and elegant silhouettes, and she considers women of color the ultimate muses.…
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AfroArt: Immortalizing a New Generation
A few weeks ago, the fashion world swooned upon learning that Rihanna would be a host of the 2018 Met Gala, themed to coincide with the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibit, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” Imagining how “Bad Gal RiRi”—first of her name, currently ruler of three simultaneous covers of Vogue Paris (and…
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Winged Victory: The Victoria’s Secret Runway Got More Colorful This Year … but Is It Enough?
“I’m rooting for everybody black.” Issa Rae’s now-famous quote from the 2017 Emmys is the gift that keeps on giving. Case in point: Now, in the season of giving, it was the exact phrase that came to my mind while watching the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which aired last night on CBS. This year’s…
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The Root 100 Is Tonight … and You Aren’t Ready
It’s. About. To. Go. Down. I know this because last night, despite having my dress and accessories planned weeks in advance, I found myself at the Zara store across from The Root’s office holding a pair of red-black-and-green heels. “Woke-ass heels,” as I now call them. So woke, they felt too good to be a…
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No Woman Left Behind: Has the Plus-Size Industry Forgotten Its Roots?
“I think I’m literally the biggest, blackest model at IMG,” plus-size phenom Precious Lee says plainly, referring to the persistent lack of bodies and skin tones like hers at the world-renowned agency that represents her. In anticipation of another New York Fashion Week, Lee joined a bevy of models of varying races and sizes to…
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Black Designer Destiney Bleu Receives a Cease and Desist Letter From Khloé Kardashian
What happens when a designer brings receipts and proof that she supplied a celebrity with items from her line? Then said celebrity releases practically the exact-same designs, but the designer calls attention to being ripped off and her squad asks for answers on social media? Well, if you’re that celebrity and your name is Khloé…
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Us Weekly Wants the World to Know Hoop Earrings Are Back, and Black Women Are Like, ‘They Never Left’
Attention, ladies and gentlemen: Hoop earrings are back! Sure, you may be sitting in your cubicle at work, rocking the same pair you’ve worn since 1994, but never mind all that. It doesn’t matter, because we have celebrities like these rocking them: Kendall Jenner Adriana Lima And of course, nothing says a resurgence of fashion…