SALEM — The Peabody Essex Museum will be hosting a virtual event with “Project Runway” star and judge Elaine Welteroth next week.
The free event, which will be held via Zoom on Thursday, Sept. 30 at 5 p.m., will celebrate the career and legacy of Welteroth, who has proven to be a pioneer in fashion.
The event will feature discussion from Welteroth and Petra Slinkard, director of curatorial affairs at the Peabody Essex Museum; Slinkard oversees the museum’s fashion and textile collection. The discussion will allow for Welteroth to share her knowledge of the fashion industry.
Welteroth has made notable contributions to the fashion industry; these have included putting a spotlight on issues of representation, creativity, consumption, transculturation and distinctiveness in fashion.
She has shown that people in the industry can advance equality and inclusion through her own innovations, determination, creative expression, and participation in protest.
The Project Runway judge, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue continues to advocate for the next generation.
Welteroth is mainly known for her groundbreaking work at the magazine Teen Vogue. In 2016, she became the youngest person to be named editor-in-chief of a Conde Nast publication. This position allowed her to spotlight diversity and social justice in the magazine’s coverage.
In 2020, Welteroth was appointed cultural ambassador for former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” initiative.
One of Welteroth’s most recent projects has been helping with recruitment at major beauty retailers, such as Sephora and Macy’s, which have committed to a pledge to allot at least 15 percent of their products to sellers from Black-owned businesses.
Hannah Chadwick can be reached at [email protected].