Last Friday in Milan, in the midst of the city’s Fashion Week, Black talent in the Italian fashion industry received their due.
During the first-ever Black Carpet Awards, an event organized by the Afro Fashion Association to highlight and celebrate creative and/or entrepreneurial leaders of change who represent marginalized communities, ten individuals were awarded for their contributions to their respective fields. The event managed to draw an elite crowd, including fashion industry titans like Vogue’s Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful, designer Shayne Oliver, and more.
According to Women’s Wear Daily, half of the winners were selected by a jury led by talent scout and founder of the Afro Fashion Association Michelle Francine Ngonmo, while the other half were selected via online voting and dubbed “People’s Choice.” Winners selected by the jury included film director Fred Kuwornu, singer-songwriter David Blank, Executive director of Festival Divercity Andi Nganso, designer Edward Buchanan, and chef Victoire Gouloubi. The “People’s Choice” winners were TikTok star Khaby Lame and designers Sarah Kamsu, Daphne Di Cinto, Tia Taylor and Nadeesha Uyangoda.
Per WWD, Buchanan, who won the Leader of Change Legacy award, shared his experience of arriving in Italy 27 years ago to helm Bottega Veneta, fresh out of Parsons School of Design — and the racism he was met with from the second he stepped off of the plane.
Ngonmo said the Black Carpet Awards were about celebrating “all stories.”
“Diversity and inclusion are not synonyms and certainly are not abstract concepts … they are an integral part of our daily life,” she said, later adding, “[the aim is to be] altogether, sitting at the same table and joining forces, to discuss the beauty of diversity and how it is a crucial factor for heritage culture and for the economic growth of society.”
Milan Fashion Week continued…
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