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Bethann Hardison is recipient of the Vanguard Award from NAACP
LOS ANGELES— The NAACP announced that American fashion model and activist Bethann Hardison will receive the Vanguard Award at the “54th NAACP Image Awards” Images: Fashion Moments in Time event, which will take place Thursday, February 23rd in Los Angeles.
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“As a trailblazer and icon for the modeling industry, the NAACP is excited to honor Bethann
Hardison for continuously using her talents to positively influence the world of fashion,” said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP. “We commend Bethann for utilizing her platform to consistently champion diversity within the fashion industry.”
During the event, the NAACP will also announce the winners of the “54th NAACP Image Awards” Outstanding
Hairstyling (Television or Film), Outstanding Make-up (Television or Film) and Outstanding Costume Design (Television or Film) categories.
The invitation-only event will also feature looks by the Black Design Collective, an accomplished group of fashion industry professionals that promote scholarship, mentorship, and entrepreneurship within emerging generations of Black costume and fashion designers.
Featured designers will each have themes for their segments, which will includ Advocate, model, muse—with a career spanning over five decades, Bethann Hardison has gone from work-
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ing in NYC’s Garment District; to becoming one of the first Black models favored by European and New York designers; to creative director and producer; to founding her namesake agency where she guided the careers of some of the most prominent models.
In 1988, she founded the Black Girls Coalition, and in 2013, she spearheaded the launch of the Diversity Coalition sparking an industry-wide movement for diversity and inclusion. In recognition of her decades of advocacy work, Bethann received the CFDA’s Founder’s Award in 2014. In 2018, with the support of the CFDA, she found- ed The Designer’s Hub to guide and empower Black designers, and in 2019 became an inaugural member of Gucci’s Changemakers Council.
Bethann currently serves on the CFDA’s Board of Directors and as Gucci’s Executive Advisor for Global Equity and Cultural Engagement.
