Miles of Style: Eunice W. Johnson and the EBONY Fashion Fair

Gr 1-5–Eunice Walker Johnson loved fashion. When she was a little girl, she designed clothes for her dolls, and as she got older, she started making clothes for her father. After earning degrees in sociology and social work, she married. She and her husband John, observing that newspapers and magazines didn’t show Black people in a favorable light, set out to change that by forming the Johnson Publishing Company. EBONY, named for the precious black-colored wood, was the company’s second publication. Johnson shared her long-lasting love of fashion and design in a column called “Fashion Fair.” When a friend approached the couple to help fundraise for a local hospital, they had the idea to organize a fashion show. Following that success, more Black organizations reached out, and so the Johnsons jointly created the EBONY Fashion Fair national tour to help raise money for various charities around the country. Readers will find Johnson’s journey fascinating. The paragraphs of text make the book more suited for older readers or those who can sit for longer stories. Eye-catching illustrations on each page featuring Black women of various skin tones and body types showcase the many inspiring outfits that made the Fashion Fair tour famous.