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 underrepresented communities, from mentoring to education.

Abbey-Hart said that finding opportunities as a Black man in Italy, where he has lived for the past 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)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco rookie catcher Daniel Susac went 3 for 3 with a walk in his first major league start and the Giants rolled over the New York Mets 7-2 on Thursday night.

The younger brother of former Giants catcher Andrew Susac singled in his first two big league at-bats off David Peterson (0-1), then drew a walk and singled off Sean Manaea.

Rafael Devers homered and Casey Schmitt went 3 for 3 with a walk and an RBI for the Giants, who had 13 hits overall and handed the Mets their third straight loss.

Robbie Ray (1-1) gave up two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

Former Mets reliever Blade Tidwell worked three scoreless innings to earn his first big league save.

Bo Bichette’s RBI double off Ray gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first before the Giants scored three times with two outs in the bottom of the inning.

Luis Arraez tripled off the right-field wall to score Heliot Ramos with San Francisco’s first run. Matt Chapman followed with a double down the right-field line to score Arraez. Chapman scored the third run when Peterson dropped Mark Vientos’ throw to first on Jung Hoo Lee’s grounder. Peterson was charged with an error.

Peterson allowed six runs — five earned — and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.

Schmitt had an RBI single off Manaea in the fifth and Devers hit a solo homer against Manaea in the sixth.

Vientos homered in the second for New York.

The Giants had used the same nine starters in the lineup for each of their first six games before Susac replaced Patrick Bailey on Thursday. Susac was a defensive replacement in San Diego on Wednesday.

The Mets and RHP Nolan McLean (0-0) face the Giants and RHP Tyler Mahle (0-1) in San Francisco on Friday night.

—

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray throws against the New York Mets during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

New York Mets' Mark Vientos rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

San Francisco Giants' Luis Arraez slides into third base in front of New York Mets third baseman Bo Bichette, left, after hitting a RBI triple during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

San Francisco Giants' Matt Chapman hits an RBI double against the New York Mets during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

San Francisco Giants' Daniel Susac hits a single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets in San Francisco, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)