Inside the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala, Where the “Black Tie, Black Designer” Dress Code Set a Glamorous Tone

By the time Bethann Hardison took the stage at the Fifteen Percent Pledge gala Saturday night to accept the Pioneer Award, the audience was already primed with a clip from Invisible Beauty. Fresh off a Sundance premiere and co-directed with Frédéric Tcheng, the documentary follows the model and activist through her influential career, from the 1973 Battle of Versailles fashion show (featuring a rare quorum of Black models) to her later coalition work around industry representation. Watching the film, Hardison said from the podium at the New York Public Library’s main branch, “you start to realize that you don’t remember… Read Full Article