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Ebony Fashion Fair to Return to Territory

Dec. 27, 2006 – – After more than a decade absence, the Ebony Fashion Fair will return to the territory in early January, bringing high fashion and hot style from the top names in the design world.
It's been more than 13 years since Johnson's Publications, which publish Ebony and Jet magazine, has graced the island with its annual fashion show. Program coordinator Claire Roker said she didn't know why Rotary West decided to discontinue hosting the show. Roker said she resurrected the show because she thinks it's "something the people of St. Croix wanted to see again."
Many people attended previous fashion fairs held on the islands, according to Roker. "When [the fair] used to come, people came out," Roker said. With the help of the Frederiksted Economic Development Association, Roker decided to revive the fair's fashion show in the territory.
This year's theme for the show, which has been going strong for 49 years, is "stylishly hot." Roker said the fair has raised more than $52 million in scholarships over its history. "What I like about the fashion fair," Roker said, "is that it's an organization that helps other organizations."
The fashion fair, according to Roker, has raised funds for organizations like United Negro College Fund, Urban League, Nation Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Delta Sigma Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha sororities. This year two students from the territory will be chosen to receive scholarships at the end of the school year based on the show's proceeds.
The fashion fair's focus is to bring the world of high fashion to black America, and the traveling fashion show will hit 180 cities across the United States. The show will only visit the Caribbean in two areas: Bermuda and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The fair will be highlighting designs from creators of elite fashions like Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, Roberto Cavalli, Issey Miyake, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent and more.
In addition to looking at the latest fashions, attendees will also get the opportunity to win prizes, including two round-trip tickets courtesy of American Airlines and American Eagle, a one-year supply of hair products from Soft Sheen Carson and selected items from Fashion Fair cosmetics.
Roker said an additional ticket will be chosen from the territory for an opportunity to win a 2007 Ford Edge in a national drawing at the end of the fair's tour in May.
The show will be held in St. Croix at Island Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 7 and at Reichold Center for the Arts on St. Thomas Jan. 6. Tickets for the show on St. Thomas can be purchased at the Reichold Center box office.
Tickets are $60 for reserved seating, $45 for the bleachers, and $21 for students. Student tickets are limited. Tickets can be purchased at Violette's Boutique, Applause, Eagle's Fashions, Global Tours, Essentric Boutique, Divi Beauty Center and Pier 69.
For more information on the fashion fair, check out its website.
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