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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Colleen Barry

10 years, 3,000 creatives: The uphill battle for Black talent in Italian fashion

Milan Fashion Diversity - (2026 Copyright The Associated Press)

A day before an emerging Ghanaian designer made his Milan runway debut, Michelle Francine Ngonmo was troubleshooting how to squeeze more people into the venue to meet demand. Hours before the show, she was up before dawn with her team setting up backstage and the showroom.

Ngonmo, a 38-year-old Cameroonian-Italian, has dedicated her professional life to helping raise the profile of Africans and other people of color in Italian fashion and other creative fields “because there was, let’s say, a lack of representation of people like me.’’

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