EUNICE Walker Johnson has always been a woman ahead of her time, and her life and work continue to be defined by her contributions to the world of fashion and design, as well as her contributions to helping to build Johnson Publishing Company into a media and beauty powerhouse.
Under Mrs. Johnson's direction, Ebony Fashion Fair continues to be the most exciting and most colorful traveling fashion extravaganza in the world. For more than four decades, the show has been taking its million-dollar collection of designer fashions to predominantly Black audiences around the world.
In the process, Mrs. Johnson and Ebony Fashion Fair have helped redefine Black beauty and pave the way for supermodels such as Liya Kebede, Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Iman and Beverly Johnson.
Sponsored locally by organizations such as the Urban League, UNCF, NAACP, and numerous chapters of Black sororities, including Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta, the show has raised more than $53 million for charitable causes since its inception.
During the 48th season, the show will make stops in almost 200 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Bahamas. Over the years, Mrs. Johnson and the show have had quite an impact on the fashion world by demonstrating that bright and brilliant colors look great on bronze-skinned models, and that Black women, regardless of income and background, have an innate sense of style and beauty.
The Ebony Fashion Fair show was conceived in 1956 when Jessie C. Dent, wife of then-president of Dillard University, asked EBONY's late publisher John H. Johnson to sponsor a fund-raiser for the Women's Auxiliary of Flint-Goodrich Hospital in New Orleans. The fashion show was such a success that it was decided to take it on a cross-country tour to benefit other charities.
In 1958, the late Freda DeKnight, then EBONY's food and fashion editor, was asked to organize the first tour, which was presented in 10 cities. DeKnight was also the show's first commentator. Mrs. Johnson began producing the show in 1963, and it rapidly became the most talked-about fashion event across the U.S. Among the elements that set this show apart is that Ebony Fashion Fair Producer/Director Johnson visited prestigious couture houses in Europe and the U.S. to personally select the 200 ensembles featured in the show.
Considered among the world's best-dressed women and a style expert, Mrs. Johnson preferred garments that would entertain as well as enlighten the show's audiences.
Even as a youngster growing up in Selma, Ala., Mrs. Johnson was fascinated by stylish, well-made clothing. At a young age she demonstrated talent as she made clothing for her dolls. As a teen, she made clothing for family members, including shirts for her father, Dr. Nathaniel D. Walker, who practiced medicine for more than 50 years. "My father used to like to show off the shirts I made for him," recalls Mrs. Johnson. "I made those collars that stood up, and worked those button holes by hand. It's amazing how praise can make you feel so good."
Mrs. Johnson earned her high school degree and certificates in sewing and tailoring at the high school at Selma University, which was founded by her maternal grandfather, Dr. William H. McAlpine, the school's second president who also was founder and first president of the National Baptist Convention USA. Mrs. Johnson's mother, Ethel McAlpine Walker, was the high school's principal and also taught college courses at Selma University.
Mrs. Johnson earned a degree in sociology, with a minor in art, from Talladega College in Alabama, and she earned a master's degree in social work from Loyola University in Chicago.
In Chicago, she met John H. Johnson at a social event, and the two were married in June 1941. The young couple spent their honeymoon driving back to Chicago from Alabama and visiting friends. Mrs. Johnson worked with her husband as he founded Negro Digest in 1942 and EBONY in 1945. In fact, it was Mrs. Johnson who suggested the name EBONY, which means fine black African wood. It also was Mrs. Johnson who found the locations for each of the company's headquarters, including the lot on South Michigan Avenue where she and her husband built the current headquarters for Johnson Publishing Co. Because it was difficult to find makeup suitable for the many shades of Black skin, Mrs. Johnson also inspired the founding of Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973.
During the early years of the Ebony Fashion Fair show, some designers refused to sell their garments to Mrs. Johnson, but she persisted. As she became well-known in the fashion capitals, the designers began to look forward to visits from the stylish woman who often was accompanied by beautiful models. Over the years, Mrs. Johnson became well acquainted with Yves Saint Laurent and other well-known designers. After viewing thousands of garments, each year she selects just the right mix of evening gowns, cocktail dresses, casual attire, swimwear and stylish suits to keep Ebony Fashion Fair audiences applauding and returning year after year.