Models Cordie King and Alberta Culbreath model afternoon fashions for Ebony Fashion Fair in a 1958 issue of EBONY. Cordie King, a very popular Chicago-based model, was one of the original Ebony Fashion Fair models. She went on to open a modeling agency and charm school called Cordie King’s Castle which produced graduates such as journalist and author Janet Langhart Cohen. She died at age 80 in 2004.
A 1974 Fashion Fair ad featuring Pal Henry, a woman who describes leaving her nursing career behind to go back to modeling because “one medic in the family was quite enough.” Let’s hope that worked out for her in the long run…
Andre Leon Talley with his then boss Eunice Johnson (Yves Saint Laurent is in the background) in 1981. Mrs. Johnson, who ran the Ebony Fashion Fair shows for decades, is featured in the Wall Street Journal’s Style section today: How a Couture Pioneer Changed Fashion.
Carol DiPasalegne on the November 18, 1965 cover of Jet. This was one of three covers that featured the 1960s Ebony Fashion Fair commentator, Playboy club singer and United Airlines flight attendant. She was brutally murdered in 1982. The alleged murderer, her husband of sixteen days, took an insurance policy out on her life four days before their wedding.
Carol DiPasalegne and Eunice W. Johnson prepare to leave for Europe to buy fashions for the 1966 “Colorballoo” Ebony Fashion Fair show.
Carol DiPasalegne, Ebony Fashion Fair commentator and model (1965-67) and nightclub singer (she sang at the Playboy Club under the name Carol Denmark in 1969), was a United Airlines flight attendant by day. She is arriving in Washington, D.C. with Captain L.L. Treece and JoAnn Tartaul after their flight from Chicago on July 20, 1965.
The venerable Mrs. Eunice Johnson with one of her Ebony Fashion Fair models in the 1960s.
Terri Springer, the “undisputed star of Ebony Fashion Fair from 1959-1964”, on the September 3, 1964 issue of Jet.
From EbonyFashionFair.com:
Today, many people still recall the grace and beauty of the regal, mocha-colored model. The daring and beautiful Springer hit the runway like she owned it with explosive drama and elegance. And during a day and age when women with dark skin weren’t eager to wear bright colors, Springer wore bright colors as if they were exclusively made for her.
