- Type: Talks and Lectures
- Collection: American Art, Decorative Arts, European Art
- Culture/Region: America, Europe
- Subject Area: African American, Visual Arts, Women
- Grade Level: 8-12, college, adult
Yves Saint Laurent was one of the first European designers to feature women of color as models for haute couture runway shows, which was a critical step in diversifying the fashion world. On June 15, 2017, special guest Bethann Hardison, in conversation with Dr. Lauranett Lee, explored the changing roles of racial diversity in the fashion world today.
Bethann Hardison, founder of the modeling and management agency that bears her name, has long been a ground-breaker in the world of fashion, as both a model and a businessperson. She has helped guide the careers of some of the most prominent models of color in recent times, and was the co-founder of a watchdog, charity, and networking group of models called the Black Girls Coalition. In 2013, Hardison also founded the Diversity Coalition which calls for awareness and action towards the effort of creating a more inclusive fashion industry for people of color.
Dr. Lauranett Lee is an independent Historian, and founding and former Curator of African American History at the Virginia Historical Society. A fixture in the Richmond Community, in 2011, she worked with a team of colleagues at VHS to launch a genealogical tool called Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names. Lauranett teaches at the University of Richmond in two schools: The Jepson School of Leadership Studies and the School for Professional and Continuing Studies and has taught courses on fashion history and history, including the course Fashion, Race and Women’s History. She was the curator for VHS’s exhibition, Looking Good: Fashions between 1950-1970s and also curated Woman Adorned: Transcending Time, Transforming Culture at the VMFA’s statewide partner, the Fredericksburg Area Museums. Dr. Lee also served as co-faculty for a teacher’s training during the run of the VMFA African American photography exhibition, Posing Beauty.