MILAN — After hosting the inaugural Black Carpet Awards a year ago, the Afro Fashion Association and its head Michelle Francine Ngonmo decided to push back the event, originally slated for Sunday night, hosting instead a warm-up cocktail reception to unveil nominees.
Word has it that Ngonmo and her team are hoping the sophomore edition, now planned for September, will leave an even stronger mark on the local fashion and creative industries and decided to allow themselves more prepwork time.
“I have a huge army behind my back. I have allies. I have the best team ever,” said Ngonmo as she thanked the audience for joining the team and this year’s Black Carpet Awards nominees at the tail end of a packed Milan Fashion Week. “I know the madness of it. And we are all exhausted. But you still found time to be here with us,” she said.
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The yearly, Afro Fashion Association-promoted awards celebrate leaders of change based in Italy and belonging to underrepresented communities who are active in creative and entrepreneurial industries including fashion, design, food, music, sport and cinema, among other fields, in hopes to further diversity, equity and inclusion globally.
“I couldn’t think of a better way than this to be closing Milan Fashion Week. A great closing,” said Carlo Capasa, chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the country’s fashion governing body.
“Thank you, Michelle, for organizing this and for creating this beautiful atmosphere… We have to do more, but we started in a very good way. Michelle is doing a tremendous job; we all really, really appreciate what you’re doing. You’re changing fashion in Italy,” he said.
“We tried to stay besides you, beside the work that Michelle is doing, beside the work that everybody is doing when we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion,” he said before passing the mic to Tamu McPherson, the social media personality recently named a diversity, equity and inclusion ambassador for Camera della Moda as part of the recently signed protocol among the fashion governing body, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers’ National Bureau for Racial Antidiscrimination and the African Fashion Gate cultural association.
In keeping with the inaugural edition, the Afro Fashion Association, which boasts a database of more than 3,000 professionals based in Italy, has short-listed 25 finalists competing for one of the 10 prizes across the five award categories: culture, legacy, creativity, community and entrepreneurship.
Five winners will be selected by a jury led by the Afro Fashion Association’s Ngonmo, while the remaining five will be selected via online voting. The 2024 edition’s nominees include Marlon Brandao, Madam Danielle, Cinzia Adanne Ebonine, Djarah Kan, Anna Osei, Johanne Affricot, Sabrina Onana, D.E.I. Futuro Antirazzista, Carlotta Vagnoli, Khadim Loum, Luciana and Adriana Toledo, Loretta Grace, Mistura Allison, Alberto Malanchino, Janine Gaelle, Ada Ugo Abara, Victoria Adede Mensah, Afroricci, Madeleine Camara, Nappytalia, Justin Randolph Thompson and Miyuki Yajima.
“I’m just going to say I appreciate so much all the nominees. We have been doing a lot of scouting to understand the profiles that we wanted to present for this second edition of the Black Carpet Awards. So, you guys are superstars,” Ngonmo said. “Your words are game changing. We are here for you guys. We are here to honor and celebrate,” she said.
Designer Edward Buchanan, an early advocate of diversity in fashion and a mentor and supporter of the Afro Fashion Association alongside Stella Jean, offered insights on the rationale for the awards.
“The Black Carpet Awards stand for community, which for us, it’s not just a word…we want to highlight a community that’s not always been highlighted…what we’ve created with the unseen profiles, especially working within the Italian space, is to really highlight those profiles. And we’re not just talking about creators and designers, that can be chefs, lawyers. Our community is vast,” Buchanan said.
He also highlighted the importance of allyship from outside the community. “We know that we as a community want to celebrate those within the community. But it’s also necessary for us to have honest allies that are willing to also support our community…individuals who understand the struggles that we have within the community in this space. And they’re there to reach out their hands to say, we’re here, and we understand and we listen,” he said.
The night which drew the likes of Sagaboi’s designer Geoff Cooper and actor Alberto Malanchino, among others, continued with guests and nominees mingling until the after-hours.