Ebony Fashion Fair canceled

MIAMI, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The Ebony Fashion Fair, a show starring black models and geared towards African-American audiences, has canceled its fall tour, organizers said.

The Miami Herald described the 50-year-old fair as a traveling style show that showcases the work of dozens of designers from around the world, while also raising money for local charities in the areas where it stops.

"In light of the overall economic challenges that are affecting many, including our potential corporate sponsors, we have arrived at a most difficult decision to cancel Ebony Fashion Fair's fall 2009 season," Johnson Publishing Co. Chief Executive Officer Linda Johnson Rice said in a statement. "In the coming months, we will develop a new business model to ensure that the show is a mutually beneficial endeavor."

Johnson Rice publishes Ebony and Jet magazines.

"This is devastating to us,'' Ann Lee, publicity chairwoman for The Charmettes, a civic group that staged the show in Broward, Fla., told the Herald. "This was our No. 1 fundraiser for scholarships, cancer research and other community activities. We've been doing this for 35 years. People from all around look forward to this event and dressing up and having a good time with the whole family."