Bethann Hardison

Bethan Hardison was born in New York and graduated from FIT. During the 1960s, Bethann worked in the garment district of New York City as saleswoman. In 1967, she was discovered by African American designer Willi Smith and began working for Smith as a fitting model, soon crossing over to the runway and print industries. In November 1973, Bethann Hardison became one of the first black models to ever walk a runway in Europe when she was cast in “The Battle of Versailles.”

Bethann Hardison took on the 1970’s and broke barriers by appearing in Allure, Harper’s Bazarre, and Vogue. While landing the cover of Essence Magazine; Bethann began to curate her own modeling agency called Bethann Management. The agency officially launched in 1984 where she focused on pushing diversity out into the fashion industry.

Now Bethann’s model career has come to an end but she is the fashion activist that has made history for african amercican models. In 1988 she co-founded the Black Girls Coalition to provide advocacy and support to African American models. She has been honored by many great organization’s like the First Annual Vibe Style Lifetime Achievement Award. The Magic Johnson Foundation presented Bethann with a Distinguished Service Award. The Black Alumni of the Pratt Institute honored her with a 2003 Lifetime Achievement award. In 2012, she received a Woman of Power Legacy Award from Black Enterprise, and became a Frederick Douglass award recipient in 2013, for her work in promoting diversity in fashion.