In 1973, the media reported rumblings of a major fashion upset. Five American designers and five French designers had shown their garments at the theater in Versailles to raise money for its restoration.
“It was a joint benefit, then it turned into a battle,” said Bethann Hardison, one of the black models selected to walk in the show. “The European press was like, ‘Oh haha, you’re kidding me,’” she said.
On the now infamous day (at least in fashion circles), Hardison, then a fit model for designer Stephen Burrows, took to the theater’s banked walkway with as much energy as she could muster. When the mostly French audience stomped and waved their programs in the air, the event became a great moment in fashion history ... and in Hardison’s career.
The black American models, who had previously barely registered on the international fashion scene, were credited with giving the American designers just the edge they needed to smack the smug out of the French.
“At the time, it was a wonderful thing,” Hardison said.
On Sept. 6, Hardison arrives in Atlanta to be honored along with the late Willi Smith in an event designed as a tribute to that historic Grand Divertissement à Versailles. In addition to VIP cocktails, the evening at Atlantic Station will include special entertainment and an appearance by model Tyson Beckford and singer Kenny Lattimore. Proceeds will benefit Hardison’s upcoming documentary and the Mauldin Scholarship established in 2006 at the Savannah College of Art and Design for full-time undergraduate African-American or Hispanic students pursuing a degree in fashion, film and television, sound design, performing arts, production design or advertising design.
Hardison said it is wonderful to see others embrace historic knowledge and pass it on. Though she is admittedly “anti-online,” Hardison currently serves as editor-at-large for Vogue Black, a subsite of Vogue Italia online that highlights black models and other topics of diversity in the fashion industry. She is also working on the documentary “Invisible Beauty,” which has evolved into an exploration of the disappearance of black models from the industry after a heyday that ran from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s.
At the suggestion that Hardison’s multifaceted career, which has included stints in design, modeling, model management, editing and more, is defined by the cause to which she has become most intimately linked — diversity in fashion — Hardison offers no complaint.
“That I can stand behind,” she said. “When people say how would you like to be recognized, I always say as a revolutionary. I am fighting for the fashion model, I don’t care if she is white, black or green, but I can’t help but fight for the diversity issues because it stands out like a sore thumb.”
Event preview
“A Night to Remember”
Honoring Bethann Hardison and celebrating Willi Smith. 7 p.m. Sept. 6. $250-$500. Atlantic Station, 231 18th St. For tickets and information visit www.antrfashion.org.
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