Films at The Forum: Invisible Beauty

Films at The Forum: Invisible Beauty

Join us this February, in honor of Black History Month, for a screening of Invisible Beauty. The essential memoir of fashion pioneer Bethann Hardison, Invisible Beauty shines a spotlight on one of the fashion industry’s most influential icons who, as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and entrepreneur, has pushed the boundaries of fashion culture and has been at the forefront of progress throughout her career.

A conversation with the film's co-directors Bethann Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng (MFA '07) will follow the screening.

Doors will open at 5:00 pm and the screening will begin promptly at 5:30 pm. The panel conversation will begin at 7:30 pm. Seating will be available to guests who have pre-registered on a first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached. Walk-ins will be permitted as capacity permits and at the discretion of the venue. Doors will close at 6:00 and late-arriving guests will not be permitted entry after that time.

More About the Film:

The essential memoir of fashion pioneer Bethann Hardison, Invisible Beauty shines a spotlight on one of the fashion industry’s most influential icons who, as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent and entrepreneur, has pushed the boundaries of fashion culture and has been at the forefront of progress throughout her career. In her lifetime, the singular and unapologetic Hardison has seen the pendulum swing toward and away from the Black model. At every setback, she spoke up and rallied her colleagues and clients in the industry to advance change. Now in her 70s, the Brooklyn native is writing her memoir, taking stock of her own legacy at a moment when the fashion industry is shaken by a racial reckoning. Invisible Beauty, co-directed by Hardison and Frédéric Tcheng (Dior and I, Halston), traces her impact on fashion from runway shows in the 1970s to roundtables about the lack of racial diversity in the early 2000s. Featuring intimate interviews with luminaries including Iman, Tyson Beckford, Tracee Ellis Ross, Zendaya, Fran Lebowitz, Pat Cleveland, Naomi Campbell, and Stephen Burrows, Invisible Beauty is an absorbing record of the racial evolution of fashion and an original contemplation on the life of an unparalleled trailblazer.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Forum at Columbia University, 605 West 125th Street, New York, United States