Supermodel and advocate Bethann Hardison joins SAM’s Deputy Director of Art Chiyo Ishikawa for a discussion on the changing roles of racial diversity in the fashion industry in conjunction with the exhibition, “Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style.”

Hardison will discuss a career’s worth of experience working as a model, agent, and activist, including her experiences working with top tier designers both in the US and abroad. She and Ishikawa will also discuss Yves Saint Laurent’s role in bringing awareness to the representation of people of color within the industry and how the same issues pervade in contemporary society.

Tickets: http://bit.ly/2eiAKkQ.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Bethann Hardison, founder of the modeling and management agency that bears her name, has long been a groundbreaker 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 is the 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.

Along with Beverly Johnson, Iman, and Pat Cleveland, Hardison became one of a handful of black models in the early 1970s favored by top European and New York designers, appearing in fashion spreads for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and breaking new ground for black models in the industry. She has challenged and helped change common notions of beauty, and is the 2014 recipient of The Council Fashion Designers of America Founders Award.

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