CHICAGO — Eunice Johnson, the widow of Ebony magazine founder John Johnson and a fashion maven who ran thousands of traveling runway shows aimed at black audiences, has died. She was 93.
Johnson died Sunday of renal failure at her Chicago home, Wendy Parks, a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Company Inc., said Monday.
Johnson had been the director and producer of the Ebony Fashion Fair since 1961. The traveling high-fashion charity event that showcases black designers and models is staged in nearly 200 cities each year. Ads for the show have featured singer Aretha Franklin, and actor Richard Roundtree made his debut as a model with the show.
Along with her husband, Johnson developed a popular makeup and skin-care line — Fashion Fair Cosmetics — specifically for women of color. The products are sold in many high-end department stores.
She was a secretary-treasurer of Johnson Publishing, which produces JET and Ebony, two of the nation’s longest-running black-oriented magazines.
“Mrs. Johnson has always been a woman ahead of her time,” the publisher said.
Johnson, an Alabama native, is credited with naming Ebony magazine.
