Ep. 187: The curious case of former US Vogue Creative Director Grace Coddington's collection of Mammy jars and why Isamaya Ffrench is being called 'cringe'

BeautyMe with Charisse Kenion

This episode is a journey inside my mind as I try to juxtapose five decades of incredible work with one (as far as we know) racist image. I'm talking about Grace Coddington; former Creative Director at US Vogue for almost three decades, known for her imagination and brilliant attention to detail and for creating memorable imagery that has inspired many around the world and impacted every single advert and billboard.

But it's that attention to detail that raised alarm bells back in 2019, when Grace was photographed at home, and in one of the images, she's standing in front of a collection of mammy jars. Many wondered why she had the jars - racist propaganda created to paint African Americans as ugly caricatures - while others wondered why they were on display.

Unfortunately I didn't know about the jars when I made this TikTok all about Grace's impact on the fashion industry.

So in this episode I have a lot of questions - can you be not racist but make a racist mistake; what is 'little old white lady' racism? Plus many others... I also throw makeup artist and brand founder Isamaya Ffrench into the mix, because she's been sailing very close to the wind lately, and her recent trip to Malawi has had some in the beauty community referring to her as 'cringe'.

I'd love to know your thoughts as always, so feel free to get in touch over @beautymepodcast on Twitter or Instagram, or find me on TikTok @charissekenion. Don't forget I also have a newsletter and you can read it for free at beautymenotes.substack.com. Finally, if you could take a moment to review the show and follow or subscribe, it would really help the podcast be seen more by people who might like it.

Links

Elisha Brown article in New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/arts/mammy-jars-black-history-month.html
Genna Rivieccio in Culled Culture on 'old white lady racism': https://www.culledculture.com/grace-coddington-mammy-jars/
Kackie Does Beauty; We Need To Talk About Isamaya Ffrench: https://youtu.be/COIVWDo5IKs
Do Mo Draper 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' on TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYUNtB1s/
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