Kenya Hunt on black womanhood, the fashion industry, and the US election

The Sunday Salon with Alice-Azania Jarvis

On a chilly autumn afternoon, I picked up Kenya Hunt’s Girl: Essays on Black Womanhood - and didn’t put it down until it was way past my bedtime. It’s a totally compelling and gripping read, combining social observation, cultural criticism, history and rich personal anecdotes to examine different elements of black womanhood and the black experience. Kenya writes with such a lightness of touch, it’s a joy to read - as well as being thoroughly thought-provoking and insightful. That she published this while also raising two children and holding down a high flying job as Grazia UK’s Fashion Director is hugely impressive - but that doesn’t surprise me, since I’ve known Kenya for a few years now, ever since I covered her maternity leave while she was deputy editor of Elle, and she is the very embodiment of impressive. I loved talking to her about the book, as well as hearing about her childhood growing up in Virginia, breaking into the fashion industry in New York, then moving to the UK, why her habit of journaling fuelled the essays in Girl, and so much more.

By the book here: https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/girl-essays-on-black-womanhood/

Twitter: @KenyaNHunt / @aliceazania
Instagram: @kenyahunt / @aliceazania

Edited by Chelsey Moore