A rundown of the world's largest traveling fashion show.

Ebony Fashion Fair is the world's largest traveling fashion show. Conceived in 1958 by high society African-American women as a way to bring high fashion to their community at a time when segregation still existed, and currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, Ebony Fashion Fair is a chance for women of all backgrounds around the country to see high-end designers locally while benefiting over 180 non-profit scholarship funds. Each year features a theme, such as The Mood of Romance, The Jazz Age of Fashion, or Glam Odyssey.

Mrs. Eunice W. Johnson, producer-director of Ebony Fashion Fair, is kind of the black community's Fern Mallis. She's the first African-American fashion buyer to go to Paris, according to Ebony Fashion Fair's website, only her productions have raised over 54 million dollars for charities to date, as opposed to merely benefiting commercial sponsors. Ebony Fashion Fair is also credited with creating the first African-American supermodel, Pat Cleveland. Some other high profile people who have been connected with the production over the years include actor Richard Roundtree, Janet Langhart Cohen (wife of former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen), and Sue Simmons, one of our favorite local newscasters in the New York City television market. Fashion Fair cosmetics, another project of the Johnson family, is the world's number one cosmetics line for women of color, got its name from Ebony Fashion Fair, and has shared many models with the fashion show.

One of the local appearances of Ebony Fashion Fair in my area will be in Atlantic City, at the Taj Mahal Casino on September 13, 2008. This date immediately follows New York Fashion Week, and it's a hike from Bryant Park, but it's worth seeing, since such designers as Anna Sui, Carolina Herrera, Luca Luca, Tracy Reese, Missoni, Pauline Trigere, Roberto Cavalli, Lacroix, Ungaro, and the holy trinity of Dior, Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent have all been featured there. Though you can get by at New York Fashion Week with jeans, a black top and a good bag and shoes, if you're headed to Ebony Fashion Fair, make an effort or you'll embarrass yourself.