It’s clear that Kelly Rowland is one of our faves — she’s not just a singer-songwriter, she’s also a mother, an actress and a fashion icon, all of which deserves a many rounds of applause. Rowland has left quite a mark on us with her music but as of late, she’s also made a huge mark with her fashion choices. As Rowland embraces bright, colorful hues, she’s proven that dark-skin women can wear brighter colors beautifully and confidently.
What’s more beautiful than her attire is the intention behind her conscious color choices. As many of us know, the fashion industry isn’t the most inclusive when it comes to women of color, especially dark-skinned women. They’re often left in the shadows of many shows, some are simply used to fulfill their diversity quota — the very thing Bethann Hardison has fought for years to change.
Rowland has built a career for herself that has allowed dark-skinned girls to see the possibilities of what they can do — similar to what Janet and Whitney did for her: “I remember the first time I saw Janet Jackson. I believe it was ‘[The] Pleasure Principle,’ and I saw Whitney Houston before I saw Janet, and she was brown. And it just all started to add up in my head, like, Oh, this is possible, huh? Yeah, I’m going to sing.”
Rowland is aware of the impact that she’s been able to have on young girls that look like her and she’s very proud of her influence on them, however, she does have someone to thank for boosting her own self-confidence — Ms. Tina Knowles-Lawson. Knowles-Lawson has considered Rowland a third daughter since their Destiny’s Child days and Rowland remembers fondly how Knowles-Lawson helped her love herself and her dark skin.
The icon has slayed all of her more recent looks, whether it’s a long, beautiful dress or a tailored jumpsuit, sis is always winning, “I love androgyny in looks right now … I feel like it’s really cool to have a really dope pair of slacks on with a fly-ass shirt and your cool tennis shoes. I just love the fact that it’s back to the ’90s,” she said. “Because I used to love watching Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, like, all of them. I would watch their off-the-runway fashion, and it was so cool to me,” shared Rowland to The Atlantic.
Rowland continues to discover herself and is feeling like she got her mojo back since giving birth. Motherhood had brought on many changes in her life which required her to take a step back and figure it all out, “For the first two years [after giving birth to Titan], I was really just trying to figure out my way as a mom [and] I was nervous about releasing music because I felt like I lost the mojo, and now I feel like that mojo is like, Hey, babe. We back.”
While there are changes happening in the industries that Rowland is involved with, she does notice that there aren’t as many dark-skinned women in the limelight as there should be, but this won’t stop Rowland from being the best she can be and continue to inspire young girls. Like many of us, Rowland is hoping that the shift in the fashion industry isn’t simply a trend.
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