Held at the Black Design Collective Creative Center in Downtown LA, with model/activist Bethann Hardison, Goo Goo Atkins hosts a once-in-a-lifetime conversation, followed by an audience Q& A.
Los Angeles, CA – March 31, 2023
On March 18, 2023, the Black Design Collective presented an intimate conversation with Bethann Hardison, the first Vanguard recipient for the 54th NAACP Image Awards. The event was hosted by celebrity stylist and influencer Goo Goo Atkins (Goo Ru Style). This conversation is part of an ongoing series titled “Pull Back the Curtain.” After Atkins and Hardison took their seats, the audience focused their attention on the stage with quiet anticipation.
“Bethann Hardison was engaging and entertaining. ‘The Oracle’ shared that throughout her life, she always spoke her mind, fearlessly seizing every career-changing moment. Goo Goo Atkins’s questions were so well researched, they caught Bethann by surprise on more than one occasion. And her witty, well-timed responses had us in stitches so much throughout the discussion, Ms. Hardison could add comedienne to her impressive lists of credits. Black Design Collective’s Pull Back the Curtain provided something that was very special and exclusive. It was a rare honor to witness this living legend in such an intimate setting!” –Kaylene Peoples, Agenda Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Goo Goo Atkins introduced Bethann Hardison, deeming her “The Godmother of Fashion,” informing the audience that she is “affectionately called ‘The Oracle.’” Atkins opened dialogue with Bethann by asking her about her outspokenness and if that came with maturity.
Bethann responds, “It’s funny, I’m writing a book now, so you do go back and you start realizing who you were. I started saying that I was always successful from the time I was 12 years old. I was a leader. Outspoken? Maybe to get some things done.” Hardison continues, “I was lucky to grow up in the garment business. It’s not a corporate world, so it was much easier to be who I was.” Atkins talks about the very few Blacks who were involved in the fashion industry in the 1960s. Bethann reveals that there was no real fashion industry; it was the garment industry during that period. “It was just getting garments made, designers were there, racks of clothes were across the street. It was quite different, and I just wanted to be in the industry. I just needed a job. Back then you could go into the New York Times and look for employment. And they gave me a position in sales.”
Goo Goo Atkins surprises Hardison with her next question, “Bethann, you walked up to the head of the Junior dress department and said, ‘if you want this to sell, then you need to put me in it.’” Shocked, Hardison replies, “How do you know all of this?” The audience bursts out laughing. Hardison continues, “It’s so funny when people interview you and they really do research. They had a Federated store with Junior dresses. It was Bernie Ozer of Federated Department stores, who was quite well-known in our industry,” Bethann goes on to say that when she was a child, she was a tap dancer, even on the radio. Bernie Ozer loved Broadway, so when Bethann saw him, she leaned in and said, “if you really want to have a great show, you should have me in it.” Hardison was scared that Ozer would be upset and tell her boss. Ozer said, “thank you.” By the time she got back to the office, they were so excited to tell her that Bernie wanted her in the show. She adds, “and that was the first time I actually did a runway show.”
The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show
Goo Goo Atkins: “In 1973, things changed one night in Paris when five American designers showed their collections along with five French designers. That became known as the Battle of Versailles. Tell us how you and the 10 other Black models changed fashion that night.”
Bethann responds, “We didn’t change fashion that night, we educated the European designers (the French) about who we were. Also, the American designers lost their set; they thought the set specs given were in inches, not centimeters. We were devastated. By the end of the day, we had music . . . and the French never used music. We had Barry White. They had never seen anything like it, and the show gave us an opportunity to be seen in that way. And that was ALL the girls (of all races).”
Hardison shocks with facts, as she talks about how within the industry, people embellish moments. She educates that much of this information about the Battle of Versailles [Fashion Show] wasn’t known until as recent as eight years ago when the diversity department of the Metropolitan Museum learned about the event and decided to give the models a citation, subsequently featuring the 11 girls of color from that show. “When we were there, it was a collection of many: the dancers, the models, all of us coming together. It was diverse. And it was all because of the great choreographer Kay Thompson (American in Paris), not ‘Black girl magic.’ We were scared to death, the French and American designers were fighting among each other, Anne Klein was so put upon, and as much as I was first Steven Burrows’s assistant, I was still a model. I had to talk a lot with Anne who was the only female . . . and it was such a controversy. But when showtime came, everyone came together. That’s what was American. That’s what really impressed me. We won, and it was a brilliant moment. At the end of the day, it was just a gig!”
Atkins and Hardison continued their conversation with topics about Bethann’s diverse modeling agency, why she founded Black Girls Coalition, and her being instrumental in managing and launching the careers of Kimora Lee Simmons, Veronica Webb, Brandy, and her son Kadeem Hardison (A Different World). They spoke about her agency’s involvement with model Tyson Beckford and their deal with Ralph Lauren and Polo, her role with Gucci Changemakers, and her collaborative film, Invisible Beauty, that was selected for the Sundance Film festival.
Goo Goo Atkins asks Bethann a final question: “Will you continue to fight?”
Bethann Hardison: “I talk about diversity, and because I come from the garment district, I want to focus on the designer—a lot of them don’t have the background to succeed. I want them to have a business that they can pass down to their children. I got so tired of hearing people ask, ‘Where are the Black designers?’ I said, ‘Just because you don’t hear about them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.’ Collectively, the CFDA and I brought designers together who already had a brand, and I was able to educate them about retail. That started February 2018. So now, I would like to diversify it racially. But that’s not interesting to them because they’re too comfortable within their community. So, when you talk about fighting the fight, or ask if my advocacy will still support diversity . . . [the answer is] yes, it always will. But when I talk about racial diversity, I mean ‘Racial Diversity!’ And sometimes people think this means all Black. But I think that we do better if we integrate.”
Bethann Hardison was surprisingly transparent in her responses while Goo Goo dug deep with her questions. Many of Ms. Hardison’s responses were pearls of wisdom for anyone wanting to pursue a career in fashion.
Notable attendees who were present at the talk were FIDM founder & president Tonian Hohberg; AGENDA founder and editor-in-chief Kaylene Peoples, Grammy-nominated bassist Bunny Brunel; Robin Harrison (VP of Hollywood Bureau, NAACP); multi-award-winning actor multi-award-winning Actor Jimmy Jean-Louis; Emmy Award-winning costume designer Brenda Cooper; and fashion designers Kenneth Nicholson, Okera Banks, and Dena Burton. Guests that evening enjoyed drinks that were provided by Melody Murphy of Mixed Bar Services.
About . . . Pull Back the Curtain (A Black Design Collective Series): A Conversation with Bethann Hardison
Bethann Hardison is an advocate, model, and muse with a career spanning over five decades. Hardison has gone from working in NYC’s Garment District to becoming one of the first Black models favored by European and New York designers. She’s been a creative director and producer, and founded her namesake agency where she guided the careers of some of the most prominent models. In 1988, she founded the Black Girls Coalition, and in 2013, she spearheaded the launch of the Diversity Coalition, sparking an industry-wide movement for diversity and inclusion. In recognition of her decades of advocacy work, Bethann received the CFDA Founder’s Award in 2014. In 2018, with the support of the CFDA, she founded The Designer’s Hub to guide and empower Black designers. In 2019, Hardison became an inaugural member of Gucci’s Changemakers Council. Bethann currently serves on CFDA’s Board of Directors and as Gucci’s Executive Advisor for Global Equity and Cultural Engagement. (bethannhardison.com)
Goo Goo Atkins has impeccable style and an audacious personality that depicts her dynamic portfolio as a designer, celebrity wardrobe stylist, creative director, actress, host, TV/radio personality, fashion columnist, and social media influencer. Atkins has worked, lived the fashion community, and more specifically, the plus-size community. You may remember her as the younger sister of Erica and Tina Campbell of Mary Mary, but she’s since made a name for herself with her own spinoff WEtv web series, Goo Ru Style.
Black Design Collective was founded in 2018, and is comprised of accomplished fashion industry professionals of color who seek to amplify the influence of and create opportunities for the community of Black apparel and accessory designers and costume designers within the U.S. and abroad. The BDC mission is rooted in the promotion of scholarship, mentorship, and entrepreneurship within emerging generations of Black fashion design talent. Through this work, the BDC aims at ultimately fostering an independent and self-sustaining Black fashion community. Proceeds from this event go to the Black Design Collective, a 501 c 3, to mentor, educate, and equip Black designers with the essential tools to create generational companies and level the playing field in the competitive fashion industry. Founders of the BDC are president & designer Kevan Hall, designer TJ Walker of Cross Colours, Oscar winner Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther, Wakanda Forever), and designer Angela Dean of Deanzign
Release by First Take PR
