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Designers Kick Off 'April Is Black Fashion Month' Series in Bed-Stuy

 Business owners, fashion designers, and community leaders kicked off the start of the
Business owners, fashion designers, and community leaders kicked off the start of the "April Is Black Fashion Month" series in Bed-Stuy on Wednesday. The series will highlight the history of black fashion and style through shows and lectures.
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DNAinfo/Camille Bautista

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Designers partnered with elected officials and businesses Wednesday to celebrate the start of “April Is Black Fashion Month.”

The month-long series returns to central Brooklyn for its second year, during which locals are invited to style-filled symposiums and fashion shows throughout the neighborhood.

“I don’t think there’s been enough of a presence here — we do have Fashion Week Brooklyn but to celebrate black fashion is very big and I think it makes a huge statement,” said April Walker, designer of Walker Wear and founder of the Fort Greene Fashion Group.

“Brooklyn has its own style and to bring that to the forefront and have it be celebrated is something I welcome.”

Walker joined Councilmember Robert Cornegy, local fashion moguls and members of the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID at a Wednesday press conference at Marcy Plaza to kick off the events.

Walker and Louis Johnson, owner of fashion boutique Harlem Haberdashery, received the title of “Ambassadors of Black Fashion” as well as official proclamations from the councilmember.

April is an ideal month for the program due to the “dapper” sense of style seen in many area churches on Sundays, according to Joseph C. Grant, Jr., Cornegy’s Ambassador of Arts and Culture.

Palm Sunday and Easter serve as an “unofficial fashion show,” according to Grant, and the series is meant to honor industry pioneers and innovators.

Businesses and boutiques in Bed-Stuy’s Gateway BID will participate in pop-up trunk shows and residents can attend weekly lectures featuring photographers, models, buyers and merchants to learn more about the fashion world.

Check out a list of this month’s events:

► Launch party
April 1, 7 p.m
Bedford Hall, 1177 Bedford Ave.

► Hair and makeup symposium
April 4, 11 a.m.
Macon Branch Library, 141 Macon St.

► Buyers and visual merchandisers symposium
April 11, 11 a.m.
Macon Branch Library, 141 Macon St.

► Flash Mob Fashion Cocktail
April 15, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Therapy Wine Bar, 364 Lewis Ave.

► Models, designers, and agencies symposium
April 18, 11 a.m.
Macon Branch Library, 141 Macon St.

► Photographers, stylists and publishers symposium
April 25, 11 a.m.
Macon Branch Library, 141 Macon St.