For the 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards, longtime celebrity stylist and fashionista June Ambrose was tasked with covering the red carpet. For those who don’t know, Ambrose is a highly-respected stylist in the industry who worked with some of hip-hop’s elite in the ’90s and ’00s, including Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, and Diddy.
Ambrose, known for her chic turban style and extravagant headwear, was a fashion pioneer who literally brought streetwear to the big screen with innovative style and fly, iconic looks that tapped into West Indian roots. For instance, Missy Elliott’s “The Rain” tapped into over-the-top, Camp-like style we had never seen before:
June was disruptive as a stylist, constantly seeing not only what the culture stood for but what it could stand for. “Hype wanted to play up the fact that [Missy] was a female rapper who was overweight and at the time it was all about being sexy and provocativeness,” Ambrose told NBC News back in 2016. “She was going to change the face of females in Hip hop. Other than (Queen) Latifah, Missy was going to cross it over in a different direction, also because of the lyrical content.”
She was also the mastermind behind the now-iconic shiny suits worn by Diddy and Mase in Notorious B.I.G’s “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.” In an interview with MediaBistro TV, she even shared that the pitch wasn’t easy, yet she was fearless in her approach. “I showed [Diddy] the red metallic and he said, ‘I am not wearing that.’ I had to make one red leather outfit and one metallic leather outfit and… I won! You have to go into this business very fearless, and you have to have integrity for what you do.
I said to him, ‘You have to just trust me. I know that sounds wild, but I put my career on this moment. I’m telling you it will make a huge difference.’ Once he saw the first take and he looked at playback, he looked at me and said ‘okay.’ And that was the beginning of not only a great working relationship, but a great friendship.”
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If you truly don’t care about the past work, I’d like to also make the claim that June Ambrose was singlehandedly credited for revamping and elevating Jay-Z, yes, BILLIONAIRE Jay-Z’s, style. “I worked with Jay when he had Roc-a-fella Records, before they were signed to Def Jam. He was evolving and it was time for the look to evolve but we wanted to be very careful to not abandoned his core consumers and there be this disconnect. So my approach to mixing these two worlds together was…. slowly working him into a jacket with shoulders, versus something soft like Armani… playing with scale up ties and the knot size, double Windsor versus single with a button down shirt and jeans.” If you don’t know, when Jay started wearing suits, the hood started wearing suits. Black men followed along with the style transformation of a man from the streets, and a new wave of hip-hop fashion emerged, many trends that we’re seeing surface back today. YES, that’s June.
Now, back to the CFDA Awards. During the live streaming of the red carpet, an incident when Ambrose mistakingly asked about Kate Spade’s attendance to Hannah Bronfman prompted a twitter squabble as people tried to argue that Ambrose was ill-prepared and should not have been on the red carpet. The following morning, she issued a statement of apology:
While I will acknowledge that Ambrose had a lapse in judgement (to which she took full responsibility), I think that media outlets covering the blunder are missing the REAL conversation we should be discussing: The fact that many attendees dismissed June on the red carpet and it opens up this larger conversation of Black hosts on the red carpet. Also that Black hosts and creators are tasked with needing perfect memory and no margin of error for our white counterparts, yet we are constantly misidentified (if we are identified at all) on Getty, called everything across the book, nicked and picked by everything, from our hair, to our nails, to our bodies. But that’s a different story for another day.
Maybe it’s because I come from a time in fashion where you paid respect to your elders and those who paved the way, or maybe it’s because I have seen and felt the sacrifices of working in this industry, oftentimes living under the ‘invisible labor.’ Throughout the live stream, I was baffled by attendees — including CFDA chair members, designers, and celebrities — walking right past Ambrose without stopping to speak on camera or handling her in a way they would not handle their white counterparts.
This is a problem for two major reasons: First, June was asked to host the red carpet FOR the CFDA’s social channels. The CFDA is the organization that’s putting on the fashion awards, so wouldn’t it be custom or a preliminary step to speak to the red carpet host who is probably going to pick your mind about the nominees, what you’re wearing, etc? People tried to argue that there’s never a guarantee for comment on the red carpet, and while I completely understand, June’s role as THE host for THE organization should have put her at first priority. If this was the Met Gala, people would not walk past André Leon Talley, and if this was awards season, people wouldn’t walk past Ryan Seacrest or Giuliana Rancic. It was the principle.
Not only were attendees, like Anna Wintour, Tom Ford, and Virgil Abloh, walking past June, but others actually interjected themselves into conversations that June was having with other attendees. The level of disrespect and dismissal that was thrown on June didn’t make sense to a fellow reporter, especially if she, as the official host, should have had a designated spot on the step and repeat, additional PAs to assist her, and publicists who knew how to direct talent to speak.
Thoughts that started as “Do these celebrities know who June is or that she’s here with CFDA?” turned into “Do they think she’s with a black publication, and therefore, their publicist doesn’t want to stop and speak?”
The discussion that centers around race in media is one that can feel never ending, especially for Black writers, editors, and media outlets that constantly get overlooked or dismissed on the red carpet by celebrities. It wasn’t long ago that news covered Halle Berry coming back, against her publicist, to speak to a Black journalist on the red carpet. Jemele Hill even tweeted, ““Bravo to @halleberry for stopping to speak to 1 of 2 black reporters covering this event. Memo to black celebs: Question any publicist or rep that doesn’t include black journalists/media in the coverage plan.”
Being a host for a red carpet, especially when live, is no easy fete. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Zuri Hall said that the amount of manpower is astounding, and while that doesn’t forgive the blunder of June Ambrose, it still makes sense that it takes teamwork: “We have the iconic ‘E!’s Live from the Red Carpet’ with Giuliana Rancic and Ryan Seacrest. I was really lucky to do some of those award shows. There’s so much muscle and manpower behind the shows. The questions are definitely pre-produced.”
“Normally, [producers] give us research packets in advance of the show so that we can study up on who’s nominated, what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, what their causes are, and more. When you see us on a carpet asking questions, there are so many other hands who had to pitch in to make that moment happen.“
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Secondly, to dismiss June as if she did not play a pivotal role in the development of black fashion with some of today’s highest-profile, highest-grossing celebrities is just egregious. Any Black designer in attendance should have made it a mission to speak to Ambrose, who helped pave the way for black stylists in Hollywood. While many of us were not surprised, the fact that Black individuals like Virgil Abloh walked by June and didn’t make a reason to speak spoke a lot to the idea that not all Black creatives are for us, and that there truly is no homage to the ones that paved the way. Some say he didn’t see her, but I ALWAYS see my fellow people of color at industry events.
If it were not for June, who knows where style in the black community would be, and more importantly, where designers and stylists would fall in the larger cultural zeitgeist. Undeniably, we still have a long way to go, seeing as how none of the Black designers up for awards won. The CFDA has less than five Black board members. There is a conversation happening in fashion, and if one is not for the respect and inclusivity of all, then they are for none of us. Thankfully, Kerby-Jean Raymond of Pyer Moss, A$AP Ferg, Jhené Aiko, Joan Smalls, and an entire team of Black dedicators to the craft stopped to speak to June, proving that there IS hope in the new age of fashion consumerism and Black identity. Truly, there are NOT that many of us in fashion, so we are the band of outsiders. I say all this to say that June Ambrose is still a legend and deserved more on the red carpet than she was given. WE deserve to be in these spaces and to be seen, felt, and heard. Hopefully this inspires change in next year’s programming and opportunities for us all.
