WWD’s role in advancing Black creatives in the fashion industry and the struggles that many have and continue to face was discussed in detail in the “Black in Fashion” talk at the WWD Apparel & Retail CEO Summit.
Using the new WWD book “Black in Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Influence and Culture” that she cowrote as a springboard, WWD’s archives editor Tonya Blazio-Licorish spoke with creative directors Mimi Plange and Tracy Reese, and journalist Constance C. R. White about their careers and insights about navigating the world of fashion.
Before diving into the discussion about Black creatives’ contributions to fashion’s evolution over the last century and their current efforts, the panelists detailed some of their experiences.
After studying architecture at the University of California at Berkeley, Plange attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco before moving to New York. Despite not knowing anyone in the industry, she got a job in merchandising before working her way up at different companies, first as an assistant designer and eventually as a creative director. Plange launched her own company in 2009 with a focus on the craftsmanship of the clothes, and has since collaborated with major names like Manolo Blahnik and more recently The Shade Store.
Reese described coming to New York from Detroit to attend Parsons School of Design and starting out at Martine Sitbon’s Arlequin. In time and at her father’s suggestion, as well as his initial financing, she started her own business. After 18 months, she decided to work for others for a while and relaunched her company in 1996. That business lasted for 23 years and over that time generated $1 billion-plus in sales of clothing — more than other Black designers, according to Reese.
Despite attaining global distribution, licensing and “all of the trappings of a successful business,” the designer decided to forgo getting into fast fashion in order to focus on sustainability. In 2019, Hope for Flowers by Tracy Reese was unveiled in Detroit to do just that and to inform the local community.
“It’s not a conversation that we have a lot in urban settings. Everybody needs to know that they have agency to advocate for a better world for themselves, their families, their communities, and our country,” Reese said.
White, who is the senior executive director of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Social Justice Center, spoke of having a career in fashion and media that has been “embodied by hard work, passion and appreciation for fashion.” Having been “really fortunate through a combination of hard work and old-fashioned good luck,” she mentioned starting out as Gloria Steinem’s assistant at Ms. Magazine as an example of that. Referring to Steinem and “the other incredible women at Ms.” at that time as iconic, White said they are “very relevant to what’s happening today, in terms of women, women’s rights and what America stands for. It’s incumbent on me to use the platform that I have to move all of us forward.”
White, a former WWD staffer, noted how she was “happily surprised” by how WWD had included Black people in its coverage close to its early beginnings. She also enthused about how many times Josephine Baker had been featured in WWD over the years. White recalled being able to put on “Soul of Seventh Avenue,” [aka “The Black Battle of Versailles”] honoring pioneering Black models and designers through the support of Fairchild and WWD. “Fairchild really was one of the media platforms in fashion at that time that really had an unusually inclusive staff,” she said.
As for whether Black designers have attained full visibility, Reese said that remains challenging. Although WWD covered her launch, it took about 10 years of showing her collections before she was covered by Style.com and Vogue.com. “We were largely ignored by a section of the media, and I think that happens a lot. Being taken seriously as a true contributor to this industry is challenging,” she said, noting how Rachel Scott of Diotima’s recent win as the CFDA American Womenswear Designer of the Year was a step forward.
Plange spoke of the importance of being recognized for your work and not for who you are and what you look like. And should “certain powers that be decide not to talk about your brand, you have to find your own ways to make things work for you,” she said.
As for the panelists’ takes on resilience, Plange emphasized the need for curiosity, flexibility and focusing on connecting with the consumer.
Reese spoke of the inner strength of intention and the power of self that can be attained. She said, “At the center of resilience, you find a way. There’s always a way, if you intend to succeed, if you intend to reach your customer, if you intend to explore your craft the best way that you know how, then you find a way.” Reese stressed the importance of “finding a way and how there is always a way.”
White added that as a creator of words and images, having that audience into the room with you as you write and create an image is “very important.” From her standpoint, resilience is “built into work in the fashion industry, because fashion is always about looking around the corner and seeing what’s next,” White said. “We’re going to be knocked around a bit. Someone said they love to hire people who have been around the block a bit because by the time you get to a certain age, you know what it’s like to be kicked around a bit and you know what it is to come back from that.”
