On Tuesday, August 11, 2020, MODECANADAROCKS x MELANI Beauty presented the digital Zoom event – BLACK CANADIAN STYLE: HERE’S THE THING… A discourse on the importance of Black Canadian identities in fashion, design, culture and media. (more…)
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Sharmain Beddoe-Howard - Queen of Cool
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🔗 Bio
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THE CAMERON HOUSE
Following her time spent abroad, Beddoe-Howard returned to Toronto in her early 20s. While juggling fashion shows, she began waitressing at the Queen Street West treasure and funky neighbourhood hotspot, The Cameron House.
Eventually, Beddoe-Howard bought into the music venue and became an operating owner alongside friend Cindy Matthews.
In Beddoe-Howard’s opinion, The Cameron House was unlike any other bar in Toronto. The venue walls were constantly being dressed in new art.
During the day, World War II vets filled the bar seats, and in the evenings, chatter and live music filled the air while an entirely new crowd consumed the dance floors. “We were the one club that had gay nights, Black nights and constantly changing art.”
It wasn’t until the 1980s that Black creatives received the acknowledgment they deserved, said Beddoe-Howard. It was a time of significant expansion, “suddenly people of color were appearing in magazines other than Ebony magazine.”
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INFLUENCE AND LEGACY
In 1998, Beddoe-Howard met her husband, Daniel Howard. “It was love at first sight,” says Beddoe-Howard. And 22 years later, we’re still in love. You know I’m lucky.”
Beddoe-Howard went on to work in PR with the jewellery company Erickson Beamon (now Vicki Sarge). She has a deep appreciation for jewelry, particularly Tuareg jewelry created by the Tuareg, a nomadic tribe from North Africa. After seven seven years she left Erickson Beamon to spend more time with her son, Luke.
Currently, Beddoe-Howard resides in Peckham,a district in southeast London, England, which Daniel, Luke her and two border terriers Lola and Jet. She is completing a Master’s while simultaneously working at an outreach program.
Beddoe-Howard appreciates that fashion is taking strides towards greater inclusivity.
“There are people that years ago would never be considered to be beautiful that are now on the forefront of beauty,” says Beddoe-Howard. “It’s your generation that’s melting the walls of all the cultural taboos, where people are recognizing the relevance of culture.”
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Sharmain Beddoe-Howard – The Queen of Cool
Words by Carolyn Bridgeman, Gabby Cleveland, Julian Beltrano
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EARLY LIFE & CAREER
On October 26, 1960, Sharmain Beddoe-Howard was born in Boissiere Village, just east of Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, where she lived with her parents and three siblings Ann Marie, Katina and Adam.
Five years later, with her walking-doll in hand, Beddoe-Howard, alongside her grandmother, arrived in Canada, where she was reunited with her parents, who had moved to Toronto in 1963.
At the ripe age of 16, Beddoe-Howard was headhunted on the streets of New York and recruited by a modelling agency. This would mark the beginning of Beddoe-Howard’s modelling career.
After quickly dominating the North American fashion arena, Beddoe-Howard set off to tackle new territory in Europe, where she worked with some of fashion’s most extraordinary designers, from Yves Saint Laurent to Vivienne Westwood.
Beddoe-Howard says, “One of my favourite people to work with was Yves Saint Laurent. He was a genius who never took measurements. You would have to put a leotard on, and he would sort of line you all up, look at you, and put the measurements together by visualizing them on his model.”
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BREAKING BARRIERS
However, modelling wasn’t always as glamorous as it appeared to be, according to Beddoe-Howard. During the pre-digital age, before the 1980s, Black models and models of colour were blocked by systemic racism within the industry.
“I would be told my legs are too long, that I’m not Black enough or that I’m not light enough,” says Beddoe-Howard.
While Black models were approved for the runway, appearing on magazine covers was still considered controversial, says Beddoe-Howard. “To become a really good Black artist, you had to build this facade. But why does an artist have to come from the street?” muses Beddoe-Howard.
And while the fashion industry has seen some improvements in terms of greater diversity and representation, persistent problems of systemic racism remain an ongoing issue within it. For example, Naomi Campbell has 8 Vogue covers, in comparison, Gigi Hadid has 35 covers.
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Tom Evan Davis
Words by Duaa Rizvi, Sydney Brasil and Sarah Steven Schacht
Factchecked by Charmaine Gooden
INFLUENCE AND LEGACY
Davis turned to his love of cooking after leaving the modelling industry. In 2009, he opened The Stockyards Smokehouse and Larder in Toronto’s St. Clair West neighbourhood.
Derek says that owning a restaurant was always his dream, starting when he first worked as a cook before moving to Toronto. He played with different smoking methods for years, and was determined to give people quality food for a good price.
“If it didn’t taste right to him, he would throw it out. That’s the kind of person he was. It wasn’t about money, it was about giving people a fair price. He always said, ‘Derek, I don’t care. It’s about giving the people a fair price for high quality.’”
After running The Stockyards restaurant for 12 years, Davis tragically passed away on June 13, 2021, while on vacation in Negril, Jamaica.
He is survived by Derek, father Gerald, sisters Kathy and Karma, his wife, Monique, and his daughter, Ella.
Memorials poured out across Toronto, many recalling his generous spirit. Derek says that his brother was “the kind of person to give anything to anybody.”
Following his death, Lisa Josephs, who worked for Davis for 12 years, told CBC, “I have watched that man, in the middle of winter, take his coat off and give it to a homeless person.”
That is the way that the people who knew Davis will remember him, a man who would do anything to help the people around him.
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Tom Evan Davis
Words by Duaa Rizvi, Sydney Brasil and Sarah Schacht
📸Bata Shoe Museum for Hoax Couture
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EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
There isn’t a normal route in and out of the fashion industry and for model turned restaurateur Tom Evan Davis, this was no different.
Tom, better known as Evan Davis in the modeling world, started his career in the late ’80s.
While his stint in the industry only lasted slightly over a decade, his presence did not go unnoticed before he entered the restaurant industry.
Tom was born on September 5th, 1964 in London, ON. Though memories are hazy, those close to him say his modeling career started in the late eighties and ended in the early 2000s.
Jim Searle, co-owner of custom design company Hoax Couture, was a close friend of Tom. He says that his modeling work varied, and though he mostly participated in runway shows and modeled designer clothes, he also did catalog work.
According to his brother Derek Davis, he even once starred in a commercial. He also says Tom’s work went international when he did a short stint in Milan.
Searle says that for Tom, modelling was “just a job”.
Though he stayed in the industry as long as he did, male modeling was an unpredictable field in that era.
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BREAKING BARRIERS
On stage, Tom was known for his swagger and charisma. His “fun-loving” attitude translated onto the runway, and has been described as “very cocky” and “sexy” according to Searle.
He also says Tom donned the “rude boy look” complete with tight-fitting garb. “He was up for anything we wanted him to do, so we put him in some pretty ridiculous outfits back in the day.”
Even though he branched out to do other work, much of Tom’s modelling career was spent with Hoax Couture.
Derek Davis says that he is “super proud” of his brother for his work as a biracial model. As they were both biracial and adopted by a white family, he says his and Tom’s “connection was unmatched”, especially growing up in the largely white city of Guelph. He says that this definitely translated into his work, both as a model and as a chef.
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Thank you @breakfasttelevision and @sid_seixeiro for your warm welcome and having me on the show to introduce @blackfashioncanada database. You gave me valuable time and space to highlight details of the project to your vast audience. Thank you for shining a light on our database.
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👗Dress: Greta Constantine Vintage
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La Linda – Hot and Cool
Words by Alexandra Clelland and Felecia Francis
Photos: Courtesy of Carter
BREAKING BARRIERS
“You were not even thought of for catalogues,” Carter explains. “That was the bread and butter of most of the modelling choices from the ’60s on to the mid ’80s, but women of colour were not considered for catalogue work during those periods. So when I was trying to do any kind of modelling, I had to do the modelling that was available to me, but we were excluded. Black models were excluded.”
Since then, Carter says the door for women of colour in the modelling industry has slowly been opening up.
To the many Black models who are starting out, her best advice is for them to be themselves in every way. “Just do your thing,” she says. “Just be you because nobody else can be you. Do your designs and do the best you can.”
And, as the industry becomes more diverse in terms of who is now modelling, the types of clothing available year-round and more sustainability, Carter is proud of her contribution and impact she has made, especially on those who have come to admire her and view her as a role model.
INFLUENCE AND LEGACY
When asked about the proudest moment of her illustrious career, Carter explains that creating The Making of a Judge, a film directed and narrated by Carter, telling the story of her father, was an incredible highlight that allowed her to share and celebrate her Canadian, West Indian and African heritage.
Carter believes that her longevity, resilience and endurance have been major contributions to the industry.
She is most proud of “opening the door for young Black women who wanted to be in the fashion industry.”
Carter discusses her work as a TV host, and how her presence on camera gave many people hope. “Just speaking to young people who wanted to get into the fashion industry and had seen me on my show, called Black World I think that meant a lot for people to see somebody who looked like them was on TV.”
For La Linda, there are many more milestones yet to achieve in her life, and she cannot wait to see what’s to come in the future.
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La Linda – Hot and Cool
Words by Alexandra Clelland and Felecia Francis
Fact checked by Charmaine Gooden
📸Courtesy of Carter
Linda V. Carter is a renowned fashion model, media personality, actor and producer from Toronto, known for being a trendsetter and trailblazer in the fashion industry.
Her modelling career took her across the globe working for brands such as Saint Laurent, Gucci, Giorgio Armani and Givenchy, in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Carter says her travels allowed her to develop a deeper understanding of culture and trends in the fashion world, through networking and experiencing the world beyond Canadian borders. She also has an impressive resume in television and film, including doing work in commercials, voiceovers and TV hosting.
EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
Linda Violet Carter was born in Toronto, Ontario, the eldest of four children — two younger brothers and a sister — to The Honourable Justice George E. Carter.
Her fashion career began as a teenager. She credits her family and heritage for her interest in fashion and design, looking at what her mother and grandmother were admiring, the materials, patterns and designs of the clothing they wore when she was growing up.
Carter is known for being a trailblazer among Black women in the early part of her modelling career, when Black women were not represented or welcomed in the fashion world.
During the 1960s, Carter says that there were no women of colour in catalogues or on the runways, but through the work done by her and other Black models, she began to get more work by the 1970s.
La Linda as she is also called, is variously described as an “extraordinary talent,” a beauty and personality that is “so real,” a diverse presence on film and a trailblazer, by people who have worked with her and who have adored her work throughout the years.
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Hondo Flemming - A Shining Star
📸Courtesy of Flemming
BREAKING BARRIERS
Flemming explains that when he was most involved in the fashion world, which would have been the 1980s and 90s, many agencies or recruiters had a very specific image in mind of what they wanted for a photoshoot or runway show. He talks about how people of colour were sometimes chosen only to fill a certain quota, and not because of their talent or ability.
“Back then it was a whole era of white is always right and it always will be; white is beauty,” says Flemming.
Although this attitude is shifting now and diversity is being embraced, it was not always the case. He explains that being Black made it harder to break into the industry, but it never deterred him from pursuing his next project.
“It’s all about how you, as a person of colour, work through that and responds to it… yes, I’ve had some adversities in the past, but at the end of the day it’s their loss and I move on to the next one,” he states.
INFLUENCE AND LEGACY
Hans Koechling, founder, of The Image Is, worked with Flemming in the 1980s and 90s as a model and a client. Says Koechling, “Hondo is a real pro and wonderful personality. He was able to go to Milan and take off with the excellent work offered to him. I was very happy for him,” he adds.
Not only was this work great for Flemming himself in his personal life, but being a Black Canadian model on the cover of big magazines and walking international runways was an inspiration to others looking to do the same thing.
“When I came back home, a lot of people on the streets — Black people especially — would come up and shake my hand and thank me,” says Flemming. “They would ask me questions and be interested in getting involved because they saw I was successful.”
From Harper’s Bazaar to Vogue Italia, Flemming has graced many covers and fashion spreads. He has met other influential creatives such as Elton John and Robert Plant during his modelling career and as Flemming puts it, “It’s just champagne flowing in this life. Not many people get to enjoy it, but I had the pleasure of experiencing these things, and the basis of it all is that I had my faith in God.”
HONDO FLEMMING - A Shining Star
Words by Darya Soufian and Kirsten Svitich
📸Photos courtesy of Flemming, #6 by Don Miller for Fysh
Picture it — mid-80s and 20-something Hondo is living in Montreal, looking for his break-through modelling gig. He travels back and forth between Montreal and Europe for modelling gigs in hopes of finding his big break. For two months he traverses Europe, going from one audition to the next, until he arrives in France.
At an agency in Paris, he picked up a casting list, and on it there were markings with the letters “NB” beside specific designers. “This didn’t mean ‘no blondes’ or ‘no brunettes’, no, it meant ‘no Blacks’,” he says matter-of-factly.
In the corner of the agency room he remembers seeing a group of Black men “huffing and puffing” because they had been rejected before they were able to audition. Flemming didn’t want to join them and he asked his agent, “Do you know for a fact that they don’t use Blacks or up until now they have not used Blacks in their show?”
Ignoring the “NB” markings, he waited in line and presented his portfolio when he got to the front. They gave him a jacket, made him walk and he got the show. A year later he was called in Montreal because they wanted him for the next season’s show.
EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
Flemming, was born in Trinidad and Tobago to parents, Joyce and Joe. When he was young, he wasn’t certain he wanted to be a model.
Yet, once he was involved, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else, and he did it in a way that was unique. “I developed my own style and my own way of working through fashion shows, and I learned as I went,” he says.
This is the attitude that propelled Flemming beyond his colleagues and landed him prestigious modelling jobs. From the cover of Vogue magazine to runways in Paris and Milan, he credits his success to his faith in God and confidence in himself.
Says Flemming, “I’m telling people to let your light shine and have faith. You go and you shine. People who are looking at you, people who have never even thought of using anybody Black before, may look at you and say ‘Oh, this person’s got something!”
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Denise McLeod - Posing Beauty
Words by Thomas Publow and Breanna Schnurr
Fact checked by Charmaine Gooden
📸 Photos courtesy of McLeod
BREAKING BARRIERS
Her career sat at the precipice of Toronto’s changing industry. Being one of the first Black models of her time, she helped pave the way for Black industry professionals to be taken seriously with their craft.
Despite the efforts being rewarded today, she faced a considerable amount of racism while working in the industry. “You never saw Black people on covers and things,” she explains, flipping through cover shots of her own.
“When I did Sears catalogues, sometimes they would have a thing called a half-figure, which means that your head wasn’t in it. What colour is my hand?” she asks while demonstrating the hand pose typical for these shots. “They had to call the head office, and my head wasn’t even in this shot, to see if they could have a Black hand.”
McLeod pulls out a stunning black and white portrait. “This, I believe, is one of my favourite shots. I did this in the ‘80s, and it was for a makeup poster for The Bay,” she says, centering the image on the table. “They wouldn’t go forward with it because I was Black. They felt that a small town would not be able to accept a Black person.”
INFLUENCE AND LEGACY
Despite the reservations she felt, being one of the only Black people in the room for many of her jobs, McLeod speaks of her career with immense pride and gratitude.
Every image and newspaper clipping she pulls out comes equipped with a story. She beams every time she saw something that had been lost in her memory.
As the evening came to a close, McLeod packs decades of her life back into the cardboard box, opens her arms in a warm embrace and waves goodbye through her screen door. Her dogs disappear back into the kitchen of her house, her cat quietly files upstairs. The street, as quiet as it was in the beginning, is now only lit by the glow of street lights.
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Denise McLeod - Posing Beauty
Words by Thomas Publow and Breanna Schnurr
Fact checked by Charmaine Gooden
📸 Photos courtesy of McLeod
As Denise McLeod opens the front door of her home, two dogs —Tessa a shepherd lab, and Maisie, a Jack Russell beagle — run past her legs and down the concrete stairs leading off her porch. The entryway light floods outside, highlighting the trees now turning yellow, orange and red, matching the brick of her house. The street is quiet.
Inside the house lies Rudi, a fluffy brown cat, unbothered by the sudden commotion. “This is so special,” says McLeod as she walks into a brightly lit kitchen. McLeod points to a picture of her with a Black man of Jamaican heritage and a white French-Canadian woman, her parents. “These are the people responsible for my career.”
EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
McLeod sits at her dining room table in between two boxes, filled with tangible archives of a distinguished career in modelling and acting that made her a trailblazer of her time.
In the 80s and 90s, McLeod was one of Toronto’s most sought-after models, a beauty who has photographers and designers singing her praises to this day on social media.
McLeod stumbled upon modelling by mistake. “I knew that Humber College had a fashion course of some sort, but what I didn’t know was that it was for merchandising. I ended up flunking because it was all about math,” she explains. “I thought, “What am I going to do? They had a modelling course. I never thought I was going to be a model, but I thought that everyone could use self-improvement, so I joined. Little did I know that I would end up getting modelling gigs out of that.”
McLeod pauses. “Look at how many I did,” she says in shock, finding so many images she hasn’t seen in years. “I was a slave to my answering machine. I was like, ‘Okay, where do I go tomorrow?’ No day was for myself. Oh, look at these things, is that not crazy time?”
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Name: Leonard Donovan Henry
Birthday: August 17
Birthplace: May Pen, Jamaica
Ethnic Origin: Jamaican
Occupations: Model/Dancer, Creative Director, Entrepreneur
👕 Henry poses in pin-striped Marc Laurent suit
📸 Photo: Photo: Greg Lawson
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Beyond the Brushstrokes of Roxanne DeNobegra
Name: Roxanne Maxime DeNobegra
Birthday: December 28
Birthplace: Georgetown, Guyana
Occupations: Makeup artist
📸 Photo: Rohan Laylor
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Bombshell Bijette- Her Strut Beyond the Runway
Name: Bijette Spencer
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica
Birthday: May 2, 1951
Occupations: Model, pet portrait Artist
📸 Photo: ?
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Name: David Cardoza
Years: 1949 - 1997
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica
Ethnic Origin: Jamaican Maroon Mother, Portuguese Scottish Father
Occupations: Model, Actor
📸 Photo: ?
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Name: Iris Karen Simpson
Birthday: September 7
Birthplace: Clarendon, Jamaica
Occupations: Buyer, Stylist, Educator, Cofounder Hello, COUTURE! Design
👗Simpson wears YSL
Location: YSL Boutique, Hazleton Lanes
📸 Photo: ?
📄Black Fashion Canada Database's agenda is to document those unrecognized, pioneering Black and multiracial models, muses, designers, photographers, creatives and entrepreneurs from the 60s-90s, celebrating their success, while also calling out the fashion industry for its decades old racism.
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Name: Winston Kong
Years: 1934 - 2005
Birthplace: Ipswich, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica
Identity: Jamaican Chinese
Occupation: Fashion Designer
📸 Photo: ?
📄Black Fashion Canada Database was created in 2021 as an online collection of magazine style profiles, photos, av clips, and archival material.
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Designer: Winston Kong
Years: 1934 - 2005
Birthplace: Ipswich, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica,
Identity: Jamaican Chinese
Occupation: Fashion Designer
👗 Ruched gold silk lame, strapless flamenco dress, skirted with black silk taffeta.
Source: Excellence Magazine, 1987
Fashion Editor: Donna Holgate
Model: Vivienne Brown
📸 Photographer: John Wild
📄Black Fashion Canada Database was created in 2021 as an online collection of magazine style profiles, photos, av clips, and archival material.
📄#blackfashioncanada database and website www.blackfashioncanada.ca launching mid June.
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Name: Adrian Hamilton Matthew Carew
Birthday: September 30, 1969
Birthplace: St James, Barbados
Occupation: Hair Stylist
📸 Photographer: David Cox
📄Black Fashion Canada Database was created in 2021 as an online collection of magazine style profiles, photos, av clips, and archival material.
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