This isn’t a stop-the-presses kind of development, but when the Ebony Fashion Fair made its annual stop here, there was some major style news, and it didn’t have anything to do with the spectacular couture shown on the runway.
It emanated from the women hosting the world’s largest traveling show, the members of Denver chapter of Links Inc. They appear to be switching their luncheon-suit allegiance from St. John to boucle knits.
Links around the world – there are 274 chapters in this community service-oriented sisterhood – have favored the St. John label for years. Link-sponsored events became a living testament to the distinctive knitwear; functions ranging from the Tribute to Black Youth to regional and national conventions offered a veritable a sea of St. John. Yet last Sunday, when the Marriott City Center ballroom was filled with 750 Ebony Fashion Fair guests, an overwhelming number of Denver chapter members were attired in the smart boucle-knit suits that so many fashion houses have popularized over the past year.
Ebony co-chair Elenora Crichlow wore one with fur trim on the collar; fringed lapels and sleeves characterized the jacket of publicity chair Rhetta Williams Shead’s pink suit; and plaid boucle was the choice for past president Sharon Daniels.
Checks and plaid were popular on the runway, too. As commentator Jada Collins noted as she introduced a checkered vignette from the show’s Scene I: “It’s so hip to be square.”
None of this is to say, however, that it takes a St. John or boucle knit to look good.
Peaches Sellers, for example, was Afro-centric in an oatmeal-colored dress that she accented with a leopard-print shawl and carved-wood beads; Javonni Willis’ three-quarter- length coat was a lovely shade of pale coral, with gold grommets to match the mock-turtle top that she wore underneath. Past president Arlene Rhodes chose a brown leather pantsuit trimmed in eggshell lace, and Janet Adams’ Chanel coat and purse were made from matching fabric.
The Denver chapter uses its share of the proceeds from Ebony Fashion Fair to fund philanthropic projects in Denver and Africa. Much of the money goes to its Tribute to Black Youth, a luncheon honoring top middle and high school students from the metro area. The chapter also donates to the Blair-Caldwell branch library in Five Points, the Denver Art Museum and schools in rural Africa.
Jennifer Wade chose crisp navy and white; Gladys Wortham’s white silk suit came alive with a red, wide-brim hat; and Landri Taylor, there with his wife, Gloria, was in the always-correct pinstripes.
Martelle Chapital-Smith, a regional executive with FEMA, shared two bits of happy news: She has married longtime beau Al Smith, and her daughter, a surgeon, has joined the staff at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Carlotta LaNier, Sandra Roberts and Victoria Haynes were among those staffing the check-in desks, giving table assignments to such VIP supporters as Denver School Board member Kevin Patterson; federal Judge Wiley Daniel; gubernatorial hopeful Bill Ritter; former Mayor Wellington Webb; and state Democratic Party chair Pat Waak. Sherry Jackson, the party’s executive director, is a Link; and Judge Daniel’s wife, Ida, is the Denver chapter president.
Others joining in the fun were Gaylene Harris, representing the
Thomas Bean Foundation; Andrew Hudson of Frontier Airlines; Linda Williams of Time Warner Cable; Urban League president and CEO Sharon Alexander Holt; librarian Terry Nelson; dance company director Cleo Parker Robinson; University of Colorado administrator Elease Robbins and her mom, Rosemary Berry; former chapter president Debbie Staten; Barbara Williams; Dawn Nakamura-Kessler; Carl and Jane Pigford; Arnold and Myrtle Roane; Glenda Barry; and Robbie Bean.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
