This episode is a journey inside my mind as I try to juxtapose five decades of incredible work with one (as far as we know) racist image. I'm talking about Grace Coddington; former Creative Director at US Vogue for almost three decades, known for her imagination and brilliant attention to detail and for creating memorable imagery that has inspired many around the world and impacted every single advert and billboard.
But it's that attention to detail that raised alarm bells back in 2019, when Grace was photographed at home, and in one of the images, she's standing in front of a collection of mammy jars. Many wondered why she had the jars - racist propaganda created to paint African Americans as ugly caricatures - while others wondered why they were on display.
Unfortunately I didn't know about the jars when I made this TikTok all about Grace's impact on the fashion industry.
So in this episode I have a lot of questions - can you be not racist but make a racist mistake; what is 'little old white lady' racism? Plus many others... I also throw makeup artist and brand founder Isamaya Ffrench into the mix, because she's been sailing very close to the wind lately, and her recent trip to Malawi has had some in the beauty community referring to her as 'cringe'.
I'd love to know your thoughts as always, so feel free to get in touch over @beautymepodcast on Twitter or Instagram, or find me on TikTok @charissekenion. Don't forget I also have a newsletter and you can read it for free at beautymenotes.substack.com. Finally, if you could take a moment to review the show and follow or subscribe, it would really help the podcast be seen more by people who might like it.
Links
Elisha Brown article in New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/arts/mammy-jars-black-history-month.html
Genna Rivieccio in Culled Culture on 'old white lady racism': https://www.culledculture.com/grace-coddington-mammy-jars/
Kackie Does Beauty; We Need To Talk About Isamaya Ffrench: https://youtu.be/COIVWDo5IKs
Do Mo Draper 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' on TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYUNtB1s/
BeautyMe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/beautymepodcast
BeautyMe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautymepodcast/
BeautyMe newsletter: https://beautymenotes.substack.com
BeautyMe on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charissekenion
BeautyMe on ShopMy: https://shopmy.us/beautyme
Ep. 171: '90s Beauty Moments - SWV lead singer Cheryl ‘Coko’ Clemons and her epic nails
Ep. 170: '90s Beauty Moments - Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna in 1995 movie Casino
Ep. 169: '90s Beauty Moments - Missy Elliott's iconic video for 1997 song The Rain
Ep. 168: '90s Beauty Moments - R&B singer Aaliyah's video for her 1996 hit One In a Million
Ep. 167: '90s Beauty Moments - how the Spice Girls and their Girl Power took over the world
Ep. 166: '90s Beauty Moments - the iconic video for Don’t Let Go by En Vogue 1996
Ep. 165: '90s Beauty Moments - ‘Black Barbie’ and Queen of Rap Lil’ Kim’s ‘90s beauty influence
Ep. 164: '90s Beauty Moments - Jennifer Aniston’s iconic haircut – The ‘Rachel’ from Friends
Ep. 163: '90s Beauty Moments - Skin from Skunk Anansie’s iconic bald-headed beauty
Ep. 162: '90s Beauty Moments - Uma Thurman’s trend-setting beauty as Mia Wallace in 1994’s Pulp Fiction
Ep. 161: '90s Beauty Moments - RnB singer Toni Braxton's 1993 Pixie haircut
Ep. 160: '90s Beauty Moments - Janet Jackson's Poetic Justice braids from the 1993 film
Ep. 159: '90s Beauty Moments - Sade Adu and the original 'clean girl' aesthetic
Ep. 158: '90s Beauty Moments - Mary J Blige, Queen of Hip Hop soul and black beauty icon
Ep. 157: '90s Beauty Moments - Demi Moore's nude pregnant body on the cover of Vanity Fair's August 1991 issue
Ep. 156: '90s Beauty Moments - Sinéad O'Connor's political and personal reasons for her shaved head
Ep. 155: '90s Beauty Moments - Madonna’s 1990 Vogue video and why it’s important to ballroom culture
Ep. 154: '90s Beauty Moments - Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour
Ep. 153: Jennifer Aniston says she’s never felt better – so why was her Allure magazine cover so retouched? Why do magazines want us to look younger?
Ep. 152: '90s Beauty Moments - George Michael's 1990 supermodel-filled video for Freedom 90
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