Bethann Hardison - former model, advocate, and founder of the modeling and management agency that bears her name - has long been a groundbreaker in the world of fashion. She has helped guide the careers of some of the most prominent models in recent times and through her decades of advocacy work has challenged and helped change common notions of beauty by consistently championing diversity in the fashion industry.
Born and raised in New York, Bethann, a latchkey kid, grew up in pre-gentrified Bedford-Stuyvestant. She was raised by her mother and grandmother who were domestics. At the age of 12 she went to live with her father, a supervisor at the Albany Housing Projects in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and a respected orthodox Muslim Imam who was an advisor to Elijah Muhammad as well as a mentor to Malcolm X. After graduating from George W. Wingate High School where she ran track and became the first Black cheerleader, she attended New York University’s Art School and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Despite not completing her degree at either institution, FIT’s merchandising program pointed her toward a career in fashion.
Bethann’s career in fashion began in the 60s at Cabot a custom button factory in New York's Garment District after a short stint as a long-distance telephone operator . During an era where suits and coats were big business Bethann, who was deemed by her boss to be too stylish to work in the factory, was tasked with showcasing Cabot’s merchandise to design houses who would match the painted buttons with their fabrics. From there, she went on to work for Marty Gutmacher before landing at Ruth Manchester Ltd. a junior dress company where she became the first Black salesperson in a showroom. One day while delivering samples for an upcoming fashion show to Bernie Ozer, the head of the junior dress department for Federated Stores, she told him, "If you really want a great show, you'll have me in it." Federated was the largest and most profitable department store company making Bernie one of the biggest influences in the garment industry. Retailers such as Bloomingdale's, Abraham & Straus, Foley’s, Sanger and Filene’s all relied on Bernie’s shows to determine what clothing to carry in their stores each season. Bernie would go on to book Bethann, marking the beginning of her modeling career. Shortly thereafter, in 1967, she was discovered by designer Willi Smith while making her sales rounds and became his fitting model and muse. Willi introduced Bethann to Bruce Weber, a former model and fledgling photographer at the time, who would shoot Bethann every weekend. From there Bethann’s modeling career took off. Very skinny with close-cropped, natural hair, dark skin and doe eyes, Bethann looked quite different from the fashion model of that time most of whom were lighter skinned with medium-length or long, flowing tresses. Her unique beauty and performance-based approach to runway, which stemmed from her experience as a child tap dancer, would lead to runway and print work for other designers such as Anne Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, Issey Miyake, Kenzo, Ungaro, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, and Claude Montana.
Read Bethann Hardison’s entire bio here.
