Lesson #3: Go Against the Grain

In the late 1950s, when Johnson was beginning to increasingly use black models for his magazines as well as the Ebony Fashion Fair Show that he sponsored, he began to notice how difficult it was for these women to find cosmetics shades that were dark enough for their skin. As of yet, there were no cosmetics lines produced specifically for dark-skinned women and they were forced to try to blend together various lighter shades in order to approximate their skin tones.



Johnson didn’t think this was an acceptable solution. “The Ebony Fashion Show made me act,” he said. “I watched our models as they mixed different shades, trying to find the right blend to bring out the unique beauty in their skin, and decided that somebody had to do something.” That somebody turned out to be Johnson himself.

Initially, Johnson had approached both Estee Lauder and Revlon – the cosmetics giants at the time – to produce a line of makeup specifically for black women. Despite his strong sales skills, Johnson could not convince them to take him up on his idea. But, that didn’t stop him.

In 1969, Johnson decided to start his own cosmetics company. He knew little about make-up but he saw the demand and wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass him by. He had his company put together a mail-order package, the Capsule Collection, and sent it out to Ebony and Jet subscribers. It proved to be an immediate success and inspired him, in 1973, to create the Fashion Fair Cosmetics Company.

Fashion Fair began manufacturing high-quality beauty products for darker skin tones, as well as fragrances for women. With its products lining the shelves of over 2,500 upscale stores throughout the world, Fashion Fair continues to be one of the leading companies globally for cosmetics for women of colour. Today, both Estee Lauder and Revlon have a line of cosmetics for black women, but at the time, Johnson was doing something that had never been done before and something few thought would be worthwhile.

In 1955, when Johnson’s Jet magazine featured a cover photograph of a young Emmett Till being lynched, he was again demonstrating his fearlessness in doing things differently. Johnson was going to do what he thought needed to be done regardless of the naysayers or of the consequences of his actions. The magazine quickly became a voice for the uprising of African Americans across the nation and a leader in the fight for equality and civil rights.

“I’m convinced that the only way to get ahead in this world is to live and sell dangerously,” said Johnson. “You've got to live beyond your means. You've got to commit yourself to an act or vision that pulls you further than you want to go and forces you to use your hidden strengths.” He was a visionary who wasn’t afraid to go against the grain, to do what hadn’t been done yet and what others said couldn’t be done at all.

Lesson #3: Go Against the Grain

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