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Happy Birthday to the late vocal extraordinaire and actress, Whitney Elizabeth Houston! | “Wholly Whitney”. Whitney Houston photographed by Sante D’Orazio for Vibe, December 1995/January 1996 | Styling: Estée Ochoa
Queen Latifah on the hood of her Jeep with a cigarette and beer as she writes lyrics for her upcoming EP produced by KRS-One and D-Nice, H.E.A.L (Human Education Against Lies). Photographed by Ernie Paniccioli (Queens, NY; 1991)
Halle Berry turning heads at the premier of the HBO biopic “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge” at the Cinèpolis Chelsea (NYC, 1999) | Halle won a slew of awards for her portrayal of Ms. Dandrige including an Emmy and Golden Globe for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Grace Jones wearing Philip Treacy masterpieces. Photographed by Kevin Davies in the entrance of her London suite (1998) | “We’d been introduced a few days before and I asked her if we could take some photos” -Philip Treacy on how his first photoshoot w/ Grace Jones came about
Kelis by Jonathan Mannion (1999) | “She told me hummingbirds were important to her, and certain colors and things like that. So we decided that instead of doing the stained-glass window, which would have taken forever to create and shoot through, we were going to paint her.”
“Beyoncé is a force. She radiates positive energy. That is what true stars do. You feel it when you are around her, you feel it when you see her perform, you feel it when she looks you in the eye & smiles.” -Tom Ford, who casted Bey to walk in his S/S 2011 surprise comeback show
A 22-year-old Chaka Khan photographed by Bruce W. Talamon in rehearsal for Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (Los Angeles, 1975) | The same year, their biggest hit single “Sweet Thing” reached
#1
on the R&B singles chart and catapulted their album sell 1 mil copies and reach gold status
Aaliyah photographed by Eric Johnson at Pier 59 Studios (2001) | “Aaliyah marked up these contact sheets herself and rejected a lot more than I thought she would. The shoot was initially for Entertainment Weekly to promote her new album Aaliyah.” It’s one of her last photoshoots
“I want to pet a whale but it has to be a big, huge whale. Though I don't think you can ever do that because with those whales, the boat can float into their mouths. So you can't get that close to them.” —Beyoncé on what she hadn't had a chance to do yet for Stuff, April 2001
Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer photographed by Louis H. Draper w/ her granddaughter (1971) | As a result of a "Mississippi appendectomy” (forced sterilization), Fannie Lou was unable to have children so she & her husband adopted 2 local impoverished girls
Laquan Smith got his start in fashion as an intern at BlackBook in 2007 (where he pretended to be an editor to get into events) after being rejected from FIT & Parsons. He started his label in 2008 and made his NYFW debut in Feb 2010 with the financial help of friends and family
Happy Birthday Angela Bassett, the queen of strong Black leads! | After becoming the 1st African-American from Boca Ciega to join the National Honor Society, Angela received her B.A. degree in African-American studies from Yale & an M.F.A. degree from the Yale School of Drama
Grace Jones is a model, actress, singer and songwriter from Spanish Town, Jamaica. Prior to the fame, Grace spent a fraction of the 60s in Philadelphia hippie communes experimenting with LSD while earning money as a go-go dancer.
André Leon Talley graduated from Brown University with a Master’s in French. In 1975, he went to work for Andy Warhol at Interview mag and was eventually introduced to Diana Vreeland by Warhol. He began working at Vogue in 1983 and has become a fashion anomaly
Happy Birthday Kimberly Denise Jones! | Despite a tumultuous personal life, from quarrrels w/ her dad forcing her to leave home at 15 to enduring a string of abusive relationships, Lil Kim carved a legacy as hip hop powerhouse with sexual bravado and undeniable fashion icon
“I rap on my album , I sing on my album, I wrote my album and I co-produced my album. The music is futuristic. The melodies that I make up are different from a lot that you hear on the radio” | Missy Elliott on what makes Supa Dupa Fly unique for Sophisticate’s Black Hair (1997)
Happy Birthday to Inga “Foxy Brown” Marchand! | At age 14, Foxy got her start performing at the Lyricist Lounge under the name Big Shorty (and AKA at one point). The following year, she got her big break on LL Cool J’s “I Shot Ya” remix and “Ain’t No Nigga” with Jay-Z
“Super-Size Me!” Toccara photographed by Howard Huang for Smooth Magazine Issue, No. 22 (2004) | “Well, the term ‘plus-size’ is not evil. I think when people get called it they get defensive, but it’s just a word—we make it mean something bad. That’s why I try to embrace it”
“The Neptunes Presents… The Clones” album art photographed by Sacha Waldman (2003) | Art Direction & Design: Courtney Walter | Creative Direction: Joe Mama-Nitzberg
Happy Birthday to the tenacious singer, songwriter, farmer and Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, Kelis Rogers! | Photographed by Jamie Stewart in a Matthew Williamson custom tank for Esquire UK, September 2000
“Hip-hop artists didn't have any money. They used to wait until the hustlers and gangsters left the store before they could come in and ask what the hustlers and gangsters wore. Everybody follows the street figures.” —Dapper Dan
“I think women have always had input on records; it’s just now that we’re wiser about getting credit for out ideas. But we’ve been doing this all the time”. Missy Elliott photographed by Warwick Saint for Honey Magazine, December 2003/January 2004 | Styling: June Ambrose
The Isley Brothers concert photographed by Bruce W. Talamon in San Diego, California (1973) | “At the end of the show, Ronald Isley summoned girls one by one to join the band onstage. Soon it was a crowded, chaotic celebration”
Sisqo photographed by Christian Witkin for Vibe, February 2000 | “When I sing I make faces, and I didn’t want to seem too aggressive, so I dyed my hair to smooth out my image.”
Fashion designer Clarence Mattison modeling his designs circa 1970s | Clarence was a fixture at Ebony Fashion Fair and produced his own runway shows at the Playboy Club, Hotel Americana, and the Hilton. In 1973, Clarence tragically drowned off the coast of Fire Island at age 29
Happy Birthday Daniel “Dapper Dan” Day, Harlem's Street Couturier! | Dapper Dan photographed by Wyatt Counts (1989) on the cover of Don Diva Issue No. 61, November 2017
An 8-month-pregnant Grace Jones in a constructivist maternity dress made in collaboration with Antonio Lopez photographed by Jean Paul Goude (New York, 1979)
Lola Chantrelle “Gangsta Boo” Mitchell, Memphis hip-hop pioneer and former Three Six Mafia member.
Photos by:
-Ernie Paniccioli circa early 2000s
-Jonathan Mannion (1999)
Grace Jones and the first person to give her a chance in runway, Issey Miyake | According to Grace in her memoir, “as soon as I did an Issey runway show, 27 people who had previously rejected it me for runway came backstage and asked that I do runway for them”
“Date with Destiny”. Destiny’s Child photographed by Michael Biondo for Stuff Magazine, April 2000 | Styling: Kelly Rae | Hair: Tina Knowles | MUA: Sam Fine
David LaChapelle, Lil Kim, and Giorgio Armani at the "Gipsy Passion" Opening Night Performance. Photographed by Ron Galella on June 2, 1998 at the City Center in New York City
Happy Birthday to the legendary director from Hollis, Queens Harold “Hype” Williams! | Hype started out as a graffiti artist and tagged the city until he attended Adelphi University for film. Since then, he’s directed some of the most expensive and elaborate videos in history