Harlem's Fashion Row Style Beat during Grammy Weekend #vzwbuzz #VZFashionmoment

Last weekend I was the guest of Verizon, sponsor of the pre-Grammy’s Style Beat Fashion Show held by Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) in sunny Los Angeles. HFR was created by Brandice Henderson-Daniel to highlight fashion designers of color. 

HFR founder Brandice Henderson-Daniel

There is a disparity in representation of designers of color in major department stores and Brandice wants to change that considering that African-Americans spend $22 Billion on apparel yet less than 1% of designers in major department stores are people of color. The event was amazing and I am so honored to have been in attendance for the first HFR event in Los Angeles and hope to attend many more in the future.

This star studded event was attended by Best Man star Melissa DeSousa, the Harlem fashion duo of the show Born to Style - Johnathan Bodrick and Terry Artis, actors Vanessa Williams,  Michael Jai White and Tamala Jones. Fashion designer Omatu and many, many more. 

Michael Jai White and fiance

Johnathan Bodrick and Terry Artis of Born to Style

The event was held at a fabulous home in Beverly Hills. A gorgeous backdrop for the day of beautiful fashion that was ahead.  Before the fashion show began guests were treated to the Verizon Lounge where we were able to have our Verizon Fashion Moment - a 365 degree image experience. I was a little wobbly on the spinning table but I had fun as you can see in my video. 



If the battery on my Verizon Galaxy s5 ran low there was a charging station available and many of the newest products were on display in the lounge too.

Fitness Guru and my Spelman sister AJ Johnson

I had fun mix and mingling with the crowd, ran into my fellow Spelman alumna, celebrity health and fitness guru AJ Johnson and enjoyed light refreshments before the fashion show began. It truly was an enjoyable time and I couldn’t wait for the festivities to begin. This was the very first fashion show that I attended and I’d been excited about it for a month.

The show was opened by Vanessa Simmons and Quincy and the first designer to highlighted was Kevan Hall. He says the highlight of his career thus far has been dressing first lady Michelle Obama. After seeing his fashion, I can understand why she chose to him. Next up was fashion by Kimberly Goldson, Joseph Bethune and Waraire Boswell.

I was blown away by the all of the designers and quite frankly did not want the show to end. I am looking forward to seeing the continued success of Harlem’s Fashion Row - both for the founder and all of the designers that are highlighted. They are all truly creating history and I am grateful for the opportunity given to me by Verizon to take part in it!

Disclosure: I am a Verizon Lifestyle Ambassador. My travel and accommodations for this event were provided by Verizon. As usual, all opinions are my own.