As soon as he walked into Solera restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, all eyes were on Tyson Beckford.
Beckford, who's considered the nation's first black male supermodel, is used to causing a stir. But he was in town to do more than that: He was participating in a celebration of Black Style, hosted by Target's African American Business Council.
And he wasn't the only fashion luminary in the room. Former model and fashion advocate Bethann Hardison, designer Stephen Burrows and Minneapolis-based hairstylist and television personality Faatemah Ampey were on hand to talk about the state of black style.
During the presentation, Burrows told about how he dressed to impress when he went to Studio 54. "When you entered, you wanted to wreck the room and have everyone freak out," he said.
That inspired Ampey, who decided to make "wreck the room" her new mantra. "You want to be noticed as the fabulous one," she agreed.
"Minneapolis is ready for something like this," said Greg Cunningham, senior group manager of brand marketing at Target Corp., who was instrumental in putting together the event. "We have great design and style here already, so let's bring some people in from New York and show them how we do it."
Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177
