Pop culture, history, and trivia unite in this vibrant showcase, featuring such notables as the famed Beverly Johnson, the first Black model on the cover of American Vogue, trailblazing tailor Dapper Dan from Harlem, and costume designer Ruth E. Carter, the “first Black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.” For each memorable figure, Christie shares a brief history of their accomplishments alongside wisdom drawn from their experiences. The letter “F” covers Fashion Fair shows that “celebrated beauty in all shades and sizes,” while Sarah Boone’s invention of the ironing board—the first patent awarded to a Black woman in the United States—illustrates that “imagination and hard work can improve everyday tasks.”
Whether it’s brand curation or fitting presidents, Christie explores the multitude of ways that fashion makes an impact on the world, all through a lens of inclusivity and diversity, with bright, bold illustrations by Ali Nasir Aziz bolstering that message. Readers will savor the book’s uplifting theme, as Christie draws parallels between the fashion world and activism that resonate, including Malcolm X’s glasses as a symbol of his battle for civil rights and Zelda Wynn Valdes’s creations “break[ing] barriers and inspir[ing] change.” This is an important foray into Black couture.
Takeaway: ABC book spotlighting Black icons of the fashion industry.
Comparable Titles: Zaila Avant-Garde's Words of Wonder from Z to A, Arlisha Norwood's Black Heroes.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: B
Illustrations: A
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: A-
Traditionally, fashion education has been exclusive to the privileged and elite, bunkered within the ivory towers of elusive academia. However, North Carolina A&T State University alum and fashion historian Shelby Ivey Christie is changing that one educational resource at a time.
Christie is the founder of Haute Heritage Publishing, a publishing company committed to dismantling barriers to entry into the fashion industry, particularly for people of color and other marginalized communities.
"We're a publishing house dedicated to creating fashion-based content and resources that spotlight Black and brown contributions to fashion," Christie told EBONY.
Christie has over a decade of leadership experience working with big industry names, including L'Oréal, Nike and Vogue.
However, the true essence of her impact is best encapsulated through her erudite social media presence, where she regularly produces some of the most analytical and thought-provoking bon mots related to fashion history.
From discussing Sarah Jessica Parker's vestiary homage to Elizabeth Keckley to spotlighting lesser-known Black designers, apprising audiences of the intricacies of fashion history and how it impacts society en masse, is something social media users have grown to expect and earnestly request from Christie, aka, @bronze_bombSHEL on Twitter (now X). Whenever a new sartorial turf war arises or a Black-centric Met Gala theme is released, Christie is the people's champ of Black fashion history and costume design.
Shelby Ivey Christie is a well-regarded voice on Fashion X, formerly known as Twitter. Her tone is regularly well-received–back in 2018, she began sharing insights on Black fashion history. Due to this, she has become a diligent and well-studied documentarian that many look to concerning speaking about our unsung heroes and facts that aren’t largely known. The fashion and costume historian who is based in Atlanta has a background that has allowed her to sit at the crux of publishing and culture. Roles at Vogue, Amazon, and L’Oréal are markings of a woman who diligently worked from the inside of corporate entities. The core of her work at these companies included shaping marketing and brand strategies for multicultural consumers. Currently, she’s on the precipice of a new era due to a venture that she has just launched, a publishing company titled Haute Heritage Publishing that she hopes will shake up the luxury fashion industry.
Since this era is about creating a tangible impact for Christie she is also launching her first-ever book under her publishing company: Black Fashion Legends Alphabet Book. A flashcard set has also launched alongside the book. There is a rhyme and reason behind the company, Christie is aiming to dismantle preconceived notions about education within the global garment industry. The book features icons such as the iconic designer Dapper Dan and the legendary stylist and costume designer June Ambrose. But, it also keys in on other names that some may not be familiar with including designers Anne Lowe and Zelda Wynn Valdes.
Christie hopes that with her company she will be able to inspire younger generations to reach for dreams after becoming familiar with icons and others who’ve paved the way for current luminaries in fashion. In her own words: “An important message about this venture is that I want to get more young diverse minds interested in fashion earlier in their lives so that we can encourage a more diverse pipeline of talent to enter into our industry.”
Shelby Ivey Christie knows how to tell a fashion tale like no one else.
She’s one of the industry’s most beloved historians, particularly for highlighting the rich depth of lesser-known, often uncredited Black stories. On Twitter (or X, if anyone actually calls it that), she breaks down sartorial narratives related to both people and styles across time, from the prevalence of gold teeth in the South to Tracee Ellis Ross’ costumes in Girlfriends. Her next venture, though, brings her mission to a much larger scale.
This week, Christie announced the launch of Haute Heritage Publishing, a new imprint aiming to shift the narrative around fashion history by focusing on its untold stories. Its debut title, Black Fashion Legends, is an ABC-style book spotlighting key industry figures like model Beverly Johnson (for "B") and designer Ann Cole Lowe (for “L”). June Ambrose penned an encouraging foreword, which Christie describes as “a true call to action to readers, particularly young readers.”
