by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
March 9, 2026
The “Our Form of Ladies” exhibit portrays Black womanhood in its energy and sweetness.
Black-owned haircare model The Doux celebrated Worldwide Ladies’s Day with a brand new images exhibit centered on Black womanhood.
The “Our Form of Ladies” exhibit, which passed off March 8, celebrated Black girls over 40 for “boldly defining radiance, energy, and goal on their very own phrases,” a press launch learn. Combining a gallery exhibit with a “cultural storytelling expertise,” the occasion introduced collectively girls and native leaders throughout Atlanta for its empowering message.
The Doux’s founders, Maya and Brian Smith, collaborated with actor, director, and philanthropist, Terri J. Vaughn, to develop this female-focused celebration. Nevertheless, “Our Variety Of Ladies” initially got here to life by visible storyteller Bessie Akuba Winn.
The continued images collection and upcoming espresso desk ebook is a visible triumph and testimony to Black girls’s livelihoods. As Vaughn and Maya Smith turned contributors on this neighborhood motion, the latter needed to search out a further avenue to showcase this profound work.
To take action, The Doux partnered with Our Variety Of Ladies as the 2 entities discover frequent floor in Black girls’s upliftment and care. With the gallery’s opening, Winn spoke in regards to the deeper connection between Black girls and the areas during which they look after each other.
“Maya Smith, the co-founder and CEO of our presenting sponsor, The Doux, talked about this in her function,” defined Winn. ” She stated that magnificence salons have been one of many first locations that black girls realized the right way to look after one another, the right way to collect, and the right way to present up for each other. And that’s actual.”
She added, “It makes excellent sense that The Doux is aligned with Our Form of Ladies, as a result of what they signify and who they signify and stand for, is similar spirit behind this whole mission. Ladies who got here up in areas that formed us, [and] girls whose experiences laid the muse for the way we evolve, how we lead and the way we present up on this planet.”
The partnership led to featured attendees, together with Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, talking on the significance of uplifting girls regardless of their age or background.
Smith additionally shared how this occasion “felt acquainted,” particularly because it speaks to this demographic’s illustration and recognition. As a champion of Black girls’s hair and holistic well being, Smith hopes to encourage others to see their magnificence in all varieties.
“Once I first noticed this mission, it felt acquainted to me,” stated Maya Smith, co-founder and CEO of The Doux. “It’s about Black girls being seen the place we’re proper now in our lives. So many people over 40 are nonetheless constructing, nonetheless creating, nonetheless evolving. We don’t age out of relevance. We develop into ourselves. Supporting Bessie and Our Form of Ladies felt pure as a result of it displays the sort of visibility and illustration we really consider in right here at The Doux.”
Whereas primarily an Worldwide Ladies’s Day occasion, the exhibit left a long-lasting message that Black girls need to really feel seen.
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