Entertainment

Fashion, History, and Shopping: Ebony Fashion Fair Show Auction

Published

11 years ago

June 1, 2015

Notable pieces from the Ebony Fashion Fair collection: 1.Nina Ricci Couture Red Corded Lace Evening Ensemble 2.Yves Saint Laurent Evening Ensemble 3.Oscar De La Renta Sequined Evening Gown.

Notable pieces from the Ebony Fashion Fair collection (l to r): Nina Ricci Couture; Yves Saint Laurent; and Oscar De La Renta.

By Mary L. Datcher
Special to the NNPA via The Chicago Defender

Fashion fanatics will be granted access to the treasures from the Ebony Fashion Fair Show vault on June 10th at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. This final installation of the three-part auction series gives fashionistas and history buffs an opportunity to own a piece of history.

“My mother created the Ebony Fashion Fair Show tour because she wanted every women to experience fashion. This auction takes that access to the next level,” says Johnson Chairman Linda Johnson Rice, the daughter of Eunice and John Johnson, the founder of the company that publishes Ebony and Jet and owns Fashion Fair Cosmetics. “The best of the best from the Ebony Fashion Fair Show collection is featured in this auction. When a woman wears one of these beautifully constructed garments to a gala, it becomes a part of living history. We’ve had these pieces stored away for decades, why not let others have an opportunity to have a piece of history—to own it, wear it and enjoy it?”

When Eunice W. Johnson turned the “Fashion Fair” feature in Ebony magazine into a charity event, the Ebony Fashion Fair Show was born. Both the publication and event created an inclusive consumer culture for African Americans to explore design, art and fashion. Five decades later, the Ebony Fashion Fair tour is known as the largest traveling fashion runway show in the world and has raised over 55 million dollars for charity.

Treasures from Ebony Fashion Fair Show will be the third sale Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has conducted for the Ebony collection, the most recent having taken place in 2013. The sale will include over 500 lots of garments that didn’t make the first or second cut, but only because they are the “best of the best,” essential pieces from the Ebony collection making their debut at auction.

“We are excited to present these works of art to the world and more importantly to our community,” says Johnson CEO, Desiree Rogers. “From choosing an auction house that’s close to home to setting the starting prices, we wanted to be sure that this auction would be accessible to a wide cross section of people.”

Bidders will now have a chance to compete for a piece of fashion history from both an iconic cultural brand and the world’s fashion capitals of Paris, London, Milan, Rome and New York.

Some of the most prized garments in the collection are a Yves Saint Laurent black sequined gown from the Fall/Winter 1990 collection and a Yves Saint Laurent yellow faille Domino coat ensemble from the Fall/Winter 1983 collection. Each of these looks were included in the first complete retrospective of the Yves Saint Laurent oeuvre at the Petit Palais in Paris in 2010.

Johnson Publishing Company currently holds approximately 300 pieces that will remain in its archives. This is in addition to the 67 pieces included in the Inspiring Beauty Tour currently scheduled through August 2016. The full schedule is available at http://chicagohistory.org/inspiringbeauty/.

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Reporter II

Posts by Reporter II

Activism

OP-ED: AB 1349 Puts Corporate Power Over Community

Since Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010, ticket prices have jumped more than 150 percent. Activities that once fit a family’s budget now take significant disposable income that most working families simply don’t have. The problem is compounded by a system that has tilted access toward the wealthy and white-collar workers. If you have a fancy credit card, you get “presale access,” and if you work in an office instead of a warehouse, you might be able to wait in an online queue to buy a ticket. Access now means privilege.

Published

9 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

By Bishop Joseph Simmons, Senior Pastor, Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, Oakland

As a pastor, I believe in the power that a sense of community can have on improving people’s lives. Live events are one of the few places where people from different backgrounds and ages can share the same space and experience – where construction workers sit next to lawyers at a concert, and teenagers enjoy a basketball game with their grandparents. Yet, over the past decade, I’ve witnessed these experiences – the concerts, games, and cultural events where we gather – become increasingly unaffordable, and it is a shame.

These moments of connection matter as they form part of the fabric that holds communities together. But that fabric is fraying because of Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s unchecked control over access to live events. Unfortunately, AB 1349 would only further entrench their corporate power over our spaces.

Power over live events is concentrated in a single corporate entity, and this regime operates without transparency or accountability – much like a dictator. Ticketmaster controls 80 percent of first-sale tickets and nearly a third of resale tickets, but they still want more. More power, more control for Ticketmaster means higher prices and less access for consumers. It’s the agenda they are pushing nationally, with the help of former Trump political operatives, who are quietly trying to undo the antitrust lawsuit launched against Ticketmaster/Live Nation under President Biden’s DOJ.

That’s why I’m deeply concerned about AB 1349 in its current form. Rather than reining in Ticketmaster’s power, the bill risks strengthening it, aligning with Trump. AB 1349 gives Ticketmaster the ability to control a consumer’s ticket forever by granting Ticketmaster’s regime new powers in state law to prevent consumers from reselling or giving away their tickets. It also creates new pathways for Ticketmaster to discriminate and retaliate against consumers who choose to shop around for the best service and fees on resale platforms that aren’t yet controlled by Ticketmaster. These provisions are anti-consumer and anti-democratic.

California has an opportunity to stand with consumers, to demand transparency, and to restore genuine competition in this industry. But that requires legislation developed with input from the community and faith leaders, not proposals backed by the very company causing the harm.

Will our laws reflect fairness, inclusion, and accountability? Or will we let corporate interests tighten their grip on spaces that should belong to everyone? I, for one, support the former and encourage the California Legislature to reject AB 1349 outright or amend it to remove any provisions that expand Ticketmaster’s control. I also urge community members to contact their representatives and advocate for accessible, inclusive live events for all Californians. Let’s work together to ensure these gathering spaces remain open and welcoming to everyone, regardless of income or background.