A FASHION FRIDAY POST FROM EMMA MEDEIROS
Let’s face it; the fashion industry can be a little, uh, catty sometimes. Under the guise of air kisses, phony smiles, and seemingly perfect social media pictures, there’s often a fierce rivalry in the clamber to the top and an endless supply of spiteful gossip that almost makes one yearn for high school.
But not at Nilanjo VIRTUAL Queen’s Day 2020! Nilanjo Fashion Entertainment, created in 2000 by fashion designer, event coordinator, and nonprofit founder Nika Hollingsworth (https://www.instagram.com/nilanjofashion/), utilizes fashion to “encourage, empower and inspire women of all sizes (and ages) to love themselves and to help promote positive self-esteem.”
Which was needed more than ever during the unprecedented year of 2020! While forced to move online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 3rd annual Nilanjo Queen’s Day lost not an ounce of its usual power and inspiration. Hosted by Nika and motivational speaker Kloni Sky (https://www.instagram.com/nilanjofashion/), it was streamed live from the Dorchester Art Project Art Gallery (https://www.facebook.com/dorchesterartproject/) in Boston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 19th, with models representing real, everyday women of different sizes, ages, and races rocking the stunning fashions from Nilanjo Boutique (https://nilanjoboutique.com/) to the tunes of Alfredo Steward (AKA “DJ Fredo”; https://www.facebook.com/alfredo.steward).
https://www.facebook.com/QUISTUCKER) and Cookie Gamble (https://www.reverbnation.com/mscookie4) were joined by poet JaVy A (https://www.instagram.com/javyayeah), who performed a piece written just for this special occasion.
The illumination continued with motivating and inspiring speeches from Nika, activist and
author, Vivian Smith Barnes (AKA “Queen Viv”; https://www.facebook.com/IamQueenViv), founder & CEO of Salomon Firearms Training (https://www.instagram.com/sftwomenshooters/), Pierre Salomon, and keynote speaker Cindy Diggs, founder of Peace Boston (https://www.instagram.com/mspeaceboston/), no doubt leaving guests with a feeling of power and inner peace that was desperately needed, and the realization that, pandemic or no pandemic, true queens build each other up, not break each other down.
“Because the crown is not an accessory.
It is a birthright woven in our ancestry.
You don’t take it off when it gets too heavy.
You stand tall so you can hold it steady.
You don’t hand it over when things get hard.
You assert your royalty and become its guard.
Because it is an honor. A responsibility, too.
It is only reserved for the chosen few.”
Learn more about Queen Nika’s many projects at:
Web: https://www.nilanjo617.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NilanjoFashionEnt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nilanjofashion
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nilanjofashion/
Contact: contactnilanjo@nilanjo617.com
About the Author:
Emma Medeiros is the president and founder of Medeiros Fashion PR (https://www.medeirosfashionpr.com/), the FIRST public relations firm in the US to specialize in the plus size fashion industry. Based in NYC, Emma received her degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Boston’s Emerson College and started Medeiros Fashion Public Relations in 2015 after realizing that, out of the thousands of fashion public relations firms in the US, not ONE of them specialized in this exploding industry. With a mixture of class and sass, the goal of Medeiros Fashion Public Relations is to place plus size fashion on an equal footing with straight size fashion. Emma declares, “There’s absolutely NO reason for them to be separate and, once I accomplish that, I can die a happy woman!”
Plus size and size inclusive designers, retailers, models, etc, can book their FREE consultation with Medeiros Fashion PR at emma@medeirosfashionpr.com.
Group picture: Lakia Rutherford (https://www.facebook.com/