THE BOMB LIFE

The Bomb Life

0 In Bomb Life 101/ Claire's Life

RIP Franca Sozzani: Thank You For Giving a Black Girl Like Me A Shot in the Fashion Industry

I was stunned to hear that Italian Vogue Editor Franca Sozzani passed away today at the age of 66.
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Though I didn’t know her personally, her impact on my career as a journalist was significant. After finishing my internship at Paris Vogue, I contacted an editor at Vogue Italia regarding their new Vogue Black site, created after Sozzani’s blockbuster Black Issue.
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Not only was I offered a position writing for Vogue Black, but I was also assigned to cover Fashion Week for Vogue Italia’s general site in New York, London, and Paris. Though I didn’t report directly to Franca, I’m sure she had a hand in making sure I, along with other journalists of color, were able to attend Fashion Weeks around the globe getting incomparable experience in and exposure to runway fashion.
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At the time, I was young, and didn’t realize how lucky I was. I complained about the work load. I resented not being able to give my all to Fashion Bomb Daily during Fashion Month. I bristled at the fast turnaround time (reviews were due within 3 hours after the end of the show, and I covered about 30 shows per city). I didn’t take into account how much of an honor and privilege it was to attend Fashion Week on behalf of one of the most respected fashion magazines in the world.
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My dream, from the time I began in the industry, was just to be a fashion writer. Not a stylist. Not a market editor. A writer. And Franca Sozzani helped make that possible.
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She opened up a world to me that seemed so out of reach for so long, and was so hands on. She even did a Skype chat with me back in 2010 (Diesel creator Renzo Rosso joined us. I had absolutely no idea who he was at the time or that I was Skyping with a billionaire! LOL).

At any rate, I write this to simply say: Thank you, Franca. People accused you of tokenism and embracing diversity for attention. But you went further than the surface, and hired black journalists, allowing us to flourish in an industry where opportunities were few and far between.
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Things have changed quite a bit in the past 6 years. Runways and magazine staffs are markedly more diverse. Franca should be credited for helping to precipitate change, and for being a fearless leader in a world full of followers.
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May your legacy endure. And may you rest in peace.
Love + Light,
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