MILAN – On the eve of a rising Ghanaian designer’s debut on the Milan fashion scene, Michelle Francine Ngonmo was busy strategizing how to accommodate the growing number of attendees eager to see the show. In the early hours of the morning, she and her team were already hard at work preparing the backstage and showroom.

Ngonmo, a 38-year-old with Cameroonian and Italian roots, has invested her career in elevating the visibility of Africans and people of color within Italy’s fashion and creative industries. She noted this endeavor stemmed from “a noticeable absence of representation for individuals like myself.”

A decade ago, Ngonmo launched the Afrofashion Association, which orchestrates fashion shows, guides emerging talents, and celebrates pioneering contributions through the Black Carpet Awards, inaugurated in 2023. In addition to mentoring, she imparts her knowledge to fashion students and frequently visits Africa to collaborate with designers there.

Over the past ten years, the Afrofashion Association has engaged with 3,000 people of color, among whom 92 have secured creative roles and are progressing on “a sustainable professional path,” according to Ngonmo.

This figure not only highlights the association’s achievements but also underscores the ongoing need for further progress.

“Italy is no longer a white Italy, as imagined, but an Italy where there are many colors,’’ Ngonmo said.

The Black Lives Matters movement launched a discussion in Italy about the absence of people of color in Italian fashion’s influential design studios, and designers Stella Jean and Edward Buchanan teamed up with Ngonmo to demand fashion houses replace expressions of solidarity with action. The fashion industry won’t disclose diversity numbers, but the lack seemed evident as several prominent fashion houses were emerging from scandals over racially insensitive designs or campaigns.

For several seasons, the trio mentored creatives of color under the catchphrase: We Are Made in Italy (WAMI). But slowly the spotlight faded, as diversity and inclusion money dried up and the fashion industry was plunged into an economic crisis.

“At the time there was a reaction, indeed a very strong request to have to deal with creatives, especially Blacks in Italy,’’ Ngonmo said. “And then slowly the curtain closed because the attention was no longer on that.”

Ngonmo said she now focuses her attention “on those companies, those institutions that have remained with us during these years, and look at the result we have brought.”

That includes the Italian National Fashion Chamber, which backed WAMI and is giving platforms to up and coming Black talents on the Milan Fashion Week calendar. One of them is Ghanaian designer Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart, who heads the brand Victor-Hart and debuted his collection of mostly denim looks earlier this month.

Abbey-Hart, who recently designed a denim collection for Max & Co., has worked with Ngonmo to raise his profile. He has graduated from showing his looks at a Black Carpet Awards ceremony to a presentation during fashion week in September before the runway show.

The designer said his love affair with fashion started when he saw his first Gucci bag back in Ghana.

“I realized I want to go where it was made. So that was the dream,’’ he said, despite many naysayers at home who saw only obstacles. “Coming to Italy really gave me a big door of opportunity to understand what the world really asks for, as a designer.”

The Milan fashion chamber’s president, Carlo Capasa, joined top fashion editors in the front row for the packed Victor-Hart show, wearing one of the designer’s statuesque denim coats.

Capasa said projects with the Afrofashion Association have given visibility and behind-the-scenes support to more than 30 designers of color during recent fashion weeks. Ngonmo has also received support from Condé Nast’s Anna Wintour, who has met with Black Carpet Award nominees on the sidelines of Milan fashion weeks.

“There is a lot to do in diversity and inclusion everywhere in the world, for sure also in Italy,’’ Capasa said, adding that Ngonmo’s role has been key in helping institutions “understand what were the needs” in minority communities, from mentoring to education.

Abbey-Hart said that finding opportunities as a Black man in Italy, where he has lived for the last nine years, remains hard.

“Sometimes, before you even get to the room for the interview, you’ve been disqualified already. It’s really tough, and I want people to understand,’’ he said. “Take away the color, take away what I represent, just look at the job.”