Black Girl Magic:
Atlanta-Based Brands Collab for Inaugural Fashion Show
Words Ali Roc | Photographer Rita Harper | Fashion Stylist FashioNinja | Models Kryshe Kalon & Jahara Kelly
As 2020 comes to what we all hope will be a quiet and uneventful end, (which also cannot get here fast enough) we find ourselves headed into fashion’s biggest season: Fall. That’s right kids, Fashion was not spared. How the industry will move forward and what that will look like is anyone’s guess. The one thing 2020 has gotten right, is shining lights on things, places and people that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. So what does that mean for the industry moving forward?
For many fashion houses, it will look like online fashion shows, but for black fashion houses it will look like opportunity.
As the world shifted to all things online, black fashion houses found new ways to innovate (think the Hanifa iconic virtual runway show) and bring attention to their often overlooked capabilities.
Enter the Adara Boutique.
Adara is a unique brand, offering something to clients looking for a style rarely thought about in relation to fashion: Modesty.
Adara specilizes in modesty fashion, creating a safe and open space for Muslim and non-Muslim women who prefer to keep it lowkey with flare, to shop and find what they need to honor their faith and modesty while expressing their inner fashionista.
Adara cofounder, Jahara Kelly saw a need for modest fashion in Atlanta and wanted to serve the Black Muslim community that is quite prevalent in Georgia. Upon founding Adara, Kelly wanted to be a representation of the Black Islamic prescience all over the country.
As one of the few Black-Muslim owned boutiques in Atlanta, Adara is using the worlds largest forced vacation to work with other black founded organizations. The boutique has partnered with The Pearl of School of Modeling which helps women and girls learn the fundamentals of the modeling industry.
Pearl Fils-Amie, a professional model, created the Pearl School of Modeling because she saw the need for more women of color to be represented in the fashion community. “Our mission is to shape the confidence of women and girls to become future leaders, through modeling, leadership (training) and entrepreneurship.” One of her students, Maryse Kye, has been featured in a campaign for MAC cosmetics.
“Atlanta’s fashion community is small, but there are a lot of people doing great work,” says Kelly. Learning about the Pearl School inspired her to support, “It’s a rough time for everyone, but we understand why it’s more important to give back and connect with other organizations.”
Adara will be debuting their first original collection August 8th, 2020 and 10% of sales made by this time will be donated to the school.
This partnership was established after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation, but by happenstance one of Pearl’s former students, Kryshe Kalon was casted in the show and also featured in the shoot for this story.
Adara and the Pearl School of Modeling are on to something important; both are now able to take center stage, as the (fashion) world continues to learn about all the things it’s been missing.