NEW YORK, USA – Fashion model and advocate Bethann Hardison along with Naomi Campbell and Iman will be the next guests on The Atelier with Alina Cho, on Wednesday, September 9, at 1 p.m. EST.
A trailblazer for racial diversity in fashion, Hardison began pressing for change in 1984 with the launch of her modeling agency, Bethann Management, and since then has continued those efforts, which culminated recently with her work on the Designers Hub. Campbell and Iman have joined Hardison’s efforts over the years, including the Diversity Coalition in 2013 and acting as the faces and voices of an industry-wide movement for inclusion with the goal of impacting greater societal change.
The trio will join journalist Alina Cho for a conversation about their extraordinary personal journeys, thoughts on the current moment, and hopes for the future. The talk can be viewed on The Met’s website or on YouTube.
Now in its seventh year, The Atelier with Alina Cho has featured fashion notables such as Nicolas Ghesquière and Grace Coddington, Alber Elbaz, Diane von Furstenberg, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Jordan Roth, Olivier Rousteing, Donatella Versace, Alexander Wang, Vera Wang, and Anna Wintour in conversations that explore the intersection of fashion and art along with a range of other topics.
This series is made possible by the Doris & Stanley Tananbaum Foundation in memory of Doris Tananbaum.
Bethann Hardison
Encompassing a historic 1973 runway performance in the Battle of Versailles and the founding of her namesake modeling agency, Hardison’s five-decade career as a model, advocate, and mentor has established her as an important voice in fashion. In 1988, she founded Black Girls Coalition, a watchdog group providing advocacy and support for Black models. She became an inaugural member of Gucci’s Changemakers Council in 2019, and in 2020, she became Gucci’s Executive Advisor for Global Equity and Cultural Engagement and joined the CFDA’s Board of Directors. She received the CFDA’s Eleanor Lambert Founder’s Award in 2014.
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell, one of the first supermodels, was the first Black model to appear on the cover of Time magazine, as well as the covers of British, French, and Russian Vogue. As a philanthropist, she focuses on human rights and global health relating to the empowerment of youth and women. Campbell’s organization, Fashion for Relief, has raised millions for disaster relief around the globe. She has also championed the African fashion industry through Arise Fashion Week and the Gucci Changemakers program. In 2020, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) honored Campbell with the Global Advocacy Award. She has also received numerous accolades from the fashion industry, including Fashion Icon Awards from the British Fashion Council and the CFDA.
Iman
During her 20-year modeling career, Iman served as a muse to many designers and photographers. In 1994, frustrated by the absence of adequate beauty products for women of color, Iman founded IMAN Cosmetics to fill a void in the cosmetics market. Her first book, I Am Iman (Universe, 2001), is an autobiographical sketchbook of her career that questions the business of fashion and beauty and their effect on identity along with the cultural and political power of good looks. She has also supported humanitarian organizations, including Keep a Child Alive, Save the Children, and the Children’s Defense Fund. She currently serves as CARE’s Global Advocate, focused on fighting global poverty and empowering women. In 2010, she received the CFDA’s Fashion Icon Lifetime Achievement Award.
Alina Cho
Alina Cho is a contributor to CBS Sunday Morning, the top-rated Sunday-morning program in the United States. She also serves as Editor at Large at Ballantine Bantam Dell, where she is responsible for acquiring and editing fashion and lifestyle books. Cho was previously National Correspondent at CNN and host of Fashion: Backstage Pass. Prior to her work at CNN, Cho held various posts at ABC and CNBC.
