Souleo says his latest exhibition at the Schomburg Center on all things Harlem Fashion is simply a show stopper from another era.

 “There weren’t many opportunities for black creators in fashion to reach higher platforms,” said Souleo, the curator of the exhibit.

The exhibit celebrates the 55th anniversary of the Harlem Institute of Fashion and its founder Lois K. Alexander Lane.

“This is a book that Louis published under HIF, it resonates with me because when you leaf through this book it documents so much history about what we contributed to fashion as Black people,” Souleo said pointing to one of the archive books in a glass casing.  

“You see the range of fashion and the range of models that were presented on the streets of Harlem and on the steps of city hall,” Souleo added.

The showroom features photos, videos, audio components, costumes and a ttaste of a live fashion show, just as it was done from the streets on West 135th street back in the day.

“That’s me, I think I aged pretty well,” said model Inez Robinson pointing to an image of herself on a digital screen.

Robinson was one of the models then. She said inclusivity was very much the nature of the shows they presented all those years ago.

“She had different body shapes, sizes and it was a platform for African American models who didn’t have a platform or weren’t the norm for runway,” Robinson said.

“This means everything to me being a former and current HIF model, I was there in the 80’s and the 90s,” she continued.

“This is an original the models wore in the 90’s at one of the shows. I’m also wearing it,” said Souleo showing a button embellished garment on display.  

From modest to full on extravaganza, Souleo said Black Fashion has and continues to be an important fixture in the industry and should be recognized as such.

“So much of our history has been white washed, erased, stolen, and hidden. I definitely wanted to show - no, we have always been creative,” Souleo said.

This diverse exhibit at the Schomberg has been extended into October.