As America takes the month of February to officially observe Black History Month and the contributions of African-Americans to society, TheFashionInsider.Com takes that same opportunity to recognize the contributions of African-Americans, who made an impact on international fashion and beauty industry. Though the contributions of some pioneers remain unknown to some, they were significant in changing the way America and even other countries of the world view their own ethnic minorities.

Why is it important to recognize the contributions of African-Americans in the fashion industry? It’s all simple. As history has proven time and time again, when an African-American succeeds in a lily white universe dominated by men, it helps open doors for all other minorities including women of all races. This is not only true in the US of A, but elsewhere in the world. In the end, it means that people, who might not have ever been considered, now can be and based upon the merits of their talent. So let’s begin…



MODELS
It is a well known fact that in 1947, the legendary French couturier Christian Dior launched “The New Look”. However, it is a little known fact that the African-American model, Dorothea Towles, was one of the models used by Dior to promote this new revolution in fashion. So beguiled was the grand couturier by Ms. Towles’s long legs and short torso, he put her to work for several seasons.

On August 27, 1967, Naomi Sims became the first black woman to score the cover of the "Fashion of Times", a supplement to The New York Times. The dark skinned beauty made history again in 1968, when she broke through to Middle America by capturing the cover of the Ladies Home Journal. She also went on to become the first African-American model to score the cover of Life Magazine. Her look inspired the looks of Mahagony, the model portrayed by Diana Ross in the 1975 movie, Mahogany. ...

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