“The Beauty of Blackness”: Fashion Fair Makes Iconic Return to the Beauty Industry

Chicago, IL – Fashion Fair, an iconic, Black-owned, and remarkable brand designed for Black beauty, is making an incredible return to the beauty industry. Fashion Fair CEO, Desirée Rogers, and President, Cheryl Mayberry McKissick are partnering together with filmmakers, Tiffany Johnson and Kiana Moore to tell the iconic story of Black beauty. The film entitled, The Beauty of Blackness, now streaming on HBO Max, gives Fashion Fair a reintroduction to the world as a brand that creates a welcoming community where everyone feels like they belong. 

The Beauty of Blackness

During a Town Hall discussion led by Kelly Rowland, the directors of The Beauty of Blackness and owners of Fashion Fair, together, shared why they felt the need to retell the story of this iconic brand. This film is dedicated to Fashion Fair and details its origin and impact. Owners, Desirée and Cheryl strongly believed a documentary was necessary. Everyone deserved to know the backstory of this company and people needed to acknowledge Black beauty.

By partaking in a documentary, owners Desirée and Cheryl believed they could appeal to a lot more people and stress the importance of just Black beauty in general because Black history is knocked out of history books.

With that, Cheryl hopes this documentary will play a small part in helping Black women embrace their beauty. She states that she wants beauty to be a road map for Black women to be on the other side of the table as owners. “I personally don’t care if everyone else sees us, I want us to see us,” Cheryl stated. This is a very important message that aids in the durability and success of a business like Fashion Fair. It is a business that lasted for over 50 years.

Fashion Fair began in the year 1973 by Ebony Magazine co-founder Eunice Johnson, who was told that she could be the next Black Estee Lauder. With new owners Desirée and Cheryl taking over, Fashion Fair is beginning to gain its new title and reintroduction to the world.  Leah Daughtry, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, quotes, ” Black beauty is a story that needs to be told. There needs to be a place where Black beauty is seen in its greatness as powerful and majestic. That’s what Black beauty truly is.”

Innovating Fashion Fair 

While continuing Ms. Johnson’s legacy and helping Fashion Fair evolve, owners Desirée and Cheryl contemplated how they could take the vision of Ms. Johnson and do it justice. They realized that they did not want to change the brand in any way after buying it, but wanted to help bring it forward and evolve. Desirée and Cheryl saw that they had the opportunity to breathe new life into this company. The ladies also realized where the majority of their success and power would come from. That was being able to pass inspiration and mentorship down to the next generation, which was really the ultimate goal.

Desirée and Cheryl believed another part of the evolution of Fashion Fair begins with renovating the products. Desirée knew that while introducing and updating products, they had to be mindful of the trends and the new generation.

For example, nude was not a color that was popular in the 70s when Fashion Fair came to be. However, it is now is due to the emergence of new trends.

While innovating, Desirée asked herself, “What would Miss Johnson do in 2021?.” After taking this into consideration, the ladies hired a dermatologist to help make sure the products had the right ingredients. They knew they had to stay away from fragrance, due to that being a huge irritant for Black skin, specifically. They have also added a new splendid addition to the lipsticks, a magnetic top. This helped the lipstick not fall apart in your purse. This is extremely resourceful for many women.

Desirée and Cheryl also made sure they were catering to all skin types and all ages as well. Fashion Fair’s skincare line consists of a hydrating priming serum full of moisture. It also contains moisturizing lip products. These products do well on all ages of skin because “all ages need lip moisture,” says Desirée.

On that note, with the right tools, has to come the right marketing. Twenty-eight companies make sure that 15% of the products on their shelves belong to Black businesses. However, there should be more than that. Desirée and Cheryl knew that the real test comes with staying on the shelf.

Fashion Fair Cosmetics is nationwide and available for purchase at all Sephora makeup stores across the country.