On Monday some of the biggest names in fashion, publishing, and politics paid tribute to Eunice W. Johnson, fashion icon, and a founder of Ebony magazine at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Johnson, who died Jan. 3 at age 93, was lauded as a pioneer in fashion and business by both former President Bill Clinton, who gave the keynote speech at the Temple of Dendur, and President Barack Obama.
Johnson served as producer and director of the Ebony Fashion Fair from 1961 until 2009. Ebony Fashion Fair, was the world’s largest traveling fashion show, and featured black models and designers. Johnson was also involved in the creation of Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973 as an answer to problems black models were having in finding make up that matched their darker skin tones.
Here, see a slideshow of the celebration:
Linda Johnson Rice
with White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, who read President Obama’s tribute to Eunice Johnson, with Jonelle Procope, president and CEO of the Apollo Theater Foundation. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.)
Vogue Editor-at-Large Andre Leon Talley, who was on the host committee for the luncheon, with Linda Johnson Rice and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.)
The former president delivers the keynote in front of the Temple of Dendur. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.)
Eunice W. Johnson, April 4, 1916 – Jan. 3, 2010