10 years, 3,000 creatives: The uphill battle for Black talent in Italian fashion

MILAN (AP) — A day before an emerging Ghanaian designer made his Milan runway debut, Michelle Francine Ngonmo was troubleshooting how to squeeze more people into the venue to meet demand. Hours before the show, she was up before dawn with her team setting up backstage and the showroom.

Ngonmo, a 38-year-old Cameroonian-Italian, has dedicated her professional life to helping raise the profile of Africans and other people of color in Italian fashion and other creative fields “because there was, let’s say, a lack of representation of people like me.’’

Ngonmo, who founded the Afrofashion Association a decade ago, produces runway shows, mentors talent and recognizes trailblazing achievements through the Black Carpet Awards, launched in 2023. Ngonmo also teaches fashion students and travels regularly to Africa to work with designers there.

In its first decade, the Afrofashion Association has worked with 3,000 people of color, including 92 who are working in creative jobs and “on a sustainable professional path," Ngonmo said.

That number is both a sign of the Afrofashion Association’s success, and a measure of how much more work there is to be done.

“Italy is no longer a white Italy, as imagined, but an Italy where there are many colors,’’ Ngonmo said.

The Black Lives Matters movement launched a discussion in Italy about the absence of people of color in Italian fashion’s influential design studios, and designers Stella Jean and Edward Buchanan teamed up with Ngonmo to demand fashion houses replace expressions of solidarity with action. The fashion industry won't disclose diversity numbers, but the lack seemed evident as several prominent fashion houses were emerging from scandals over racially insensitive designs or campaigns.

For several seasons, the trio mentored creatives of color under the catchphrase: We Are Made in Italy (WAMI). But slowly the spotlight faded, as diversity and inclusion money dried up and the fashion industry was plunged into an economic crisis.

“At the time there was a reaction, indeed a very strong request to have to deal with creatives, especially Blacks in Italy,’’ Ngonmo said. “And then slowly the curtain closed because the attention was no longer on that.”

Ngonmo said she now focuses her attention “on those companies, those institutions that have remained with us during these years, and look at the result we have brought.”

That includes the Italian National Fashion Chamber, which backed WAMI and is giving platforms to up and coming Black talents on the Milan Fashion Week calendar. One of them is Ghanaian designer Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart, who heads the brand Victor-Hart and debuted his collection of mostly denim looks earlier this month.

Abbey-Hart, who recently designed a denim collection for Max & Co., has worked with Ngonmo to raise his profile. He has graduated from showing his looks at a Black Carpet Awards ceremony to a presentation during fashion week in September before the runway show.

The designer said his love affair with fashion started when he saw his first Gucci bag back in Ghana.

“I realized I want to go where it was made. So that was the dream,’’ he said, despite many naysayers at home who saw only obstacles. “Coming to Italy really gave me a big door of opportunity to understand what the world really asks for, as a designer."

The Milan fashion chamber’s president, Carlo Capasa, joined top fashion editors in the front row for the packed Victor-Hart show, wearing one of the designer’s statuesque denim coats.

Capasa said projects with the Afrofashion Association have given visibility and behind-the-scenes support to more than 30 designers of color during recent fashion weeks. Ngonmo has also received support from Condé Nast’s Anna Wintour, who has met with Black Carpet Award nominees on the sidelines of Milan fashion weeks.

“There is a lot to do in diversity and inclusion everywhere in the world, for sure also in Italy,’’ Capasa said, adding that Ngonmo’s role has been key in helping institutions “understand what were the needs” in minority communities, from mentoring to education.

Abbey-Hart said that finding opportunities as a Black man in Italy, where he has lived for the last nine years, remains hard.

“Sometimes, before you even get to the room for the interview, you’ve been disqualified already. It’s really tough, and I want people to understand,’’ he said. “Take away the color, take away what I represent, just look at the job.”

Models get ready in the backstage of the Victor Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

A model poses in the backstage of the Victor Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Models get ready in the backstage of the Victor Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Ghanaian-born fashion designer Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart prepares models backstage at the Victor-Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's fashion show in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Afro Fashion Association founder Michelle Ngonmo prepares models in the backstage of the Victor-Hart Fall/Winter 2026-2027 Men's fashion show presented in Milan, Italy, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

ZIGONG, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 26, 2026--

On the evening of January 23, the lighting ceremony of the 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival, organized by the Zigong Cultural Tourism Development Group, was held alongside the provincial Spring Festival cultural tourism and consumption promotion campaign. On the eve of the Lunar New Year of the Horse, a vibrant cultural tourism spectacle—using lanterns as a medium to blend tradition with modernity—officially opened to the public.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260125098453/en/

Under the theme “Lanterns Painting China, Building Dreams for the Future,” this year’s festival features ten themed sections. By combining large-scale and medium-sized lantern installations and integrating intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship with digital technology, the festival offers an immersive artistic experience.

For the first time, the festival presents a centralized display of lantern installations made from diverse materials such as blue-and-white porcelain, straw, and recycled medicine bottles, highlighting the innovative integration of environmental awareness and traditional techniques. Technological interactivity is a major highlight, like bionic robotic dinosaurs, AI-powered interactive systems, synchronized sound, light, water, and electrical effects, as well as the fully interactive “Fantasy Light Park,” enhancing visitor participation.

Creative lantern design further elevates the visitor experience. “Echoes of the Salt Capital” blends traditional paper quilling with colored lantern craftsmanship, while the “Tree of Life” entrance incorporates dynamic sound-and-light interactions. The “Azure Skies” installation creates a poetic cascade of light and shadow. The centerpiece installation, “Magical China,” draws inspiration from the mythical Kunpeng, presenting a grand narrative that intertwines China’s space exploration achievements with ancient legends.

In addition, the festival has introduced a dedicated travel photography zone stretching over 300 meters. Blending classical Chinese aesthetics with cyberpunk elements and complemented by promenade-style performances, it delivers an experience where “every step reveals a scene and every scene tells a story.” In celebration of the Year of the Horse, the “Legend of Mulan” lantern installation unfolds a seven-chapter narrative conveying themes of family, patriotism, and cultural heritage, echoing the spirit of the Spring Festival.

Through creative materials, immersive technology, refined design and rich cultural storytelling, the Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival presents a visual spectacle that seamlessly combines traditional charm with contemporary vitality.

The 32nd Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival Lights Up