Before Michelle Obama, There was Eunice W. Johnson

Johnson died Sunday in her Chicago home. She was 93. Born in Selma, Ala., Johnson was producer and director of Ebony Fashion Fair and secretary-treasurer of Johnson Publishing, which included Jet and Ebony magazines. The Johnsons' daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, now oversees the publishing company.

Ebony Fashion Fair was birthed in the 1950s following a fundraising idea by the wife of the former president emeritus at Dillard University in New Orleans. Ebony Fashion Fair broke barriers when Johnson persuaded some white designers in Europe to allow Ebony Fashion Fair to feature their clothing lines, and when Ebony Fashion Fair models, who did not have makeup that matched their skin tones, were the reason one of the first skin-care lines for women of color was born.

Johnson also was known for giving runway opportunities for then young unknowns such as Roberto Cavalli, Valentino, and Yves St. Laurent. Ebony Fashion Fair also helped to launch the careers of people like model Pat Cleveland, actor Richard Roundtree, and television journalist Janet Langhart Cohen, wife of former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

Yes, before fashionistas either were stunned or wowed by Michelle Obama's boldness to bare her sculpted arms in a black dress and pearls, Johnson's fashion sense inspired generations of black women.

How can I forget sitting under the hair dryer in the '70s, "The Young and the Restless" playing on my hair dresser's TV set (we didn't call beauticians stylists then), and browsing through the photo layouts of the Ebony Fashion Show in Ebony magazine? Years before I toted a Vogue magazine, Johnson shared insights about the latest clothing to women. Ebony Fashion Fair was known for its daring styles. But it didn't matter if I would have never sported a sheer brown mohair cape over gold plaid harem pants or that I might have worn a crepe de chine gown embroidered with gold and silver. The Ebony Fair Fashion Show inspired my adolescent imagination and reinforced the idea the women in my family already had shown me: Black women are beautiful.

On January 11, the Metropolitan Museum of Art reportedly will honor Johnson's philanthropic efforts and the breadth of her influence in fashion. Ebony Fashion Fair raised more than $55 million for charity. Part of the draw for decades was that the incredibly fashionable weren't just the models on the runway; they were the well-dressed attendees in the audience. The Ebony Fashion Fair was a community event; a place to see and be seen.

Audrey Smaltz, who served as the Ebony Fashion Show commentator from 1970-1977, and who is a fashion icon in her own right, said of Johnson on EbonyJet.com: "She was an interior designer. She was a lover of art. She had the greatest art collection you could imagine. . . . She introduced me to luxury, art and culture way beyond what I went to school for. I graduated with an art degree. She took me to a Ph.D."

During the Christmas holiday I passed the Fashion Fair counter at a local department store while hubby and I shopped for gifts. I shared a smile with the friendly, stylish woman at the counter and kept going. I need to stop by. Soon. Maybe the clerk and I can chat about Eunice Johnson, Michelle Obama, and sheer mohair capes.

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