In 2020, Dario made history as the first-ever Black photographer to shoot a cover for Vanity Fair — in its 106-year existence — with his portrait of Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis. That same year, Calmese launched The Institute of Black Imagination (IBI), a global hub for Black creativity and cultural production, amplifying the voices and visions of innovators across art, technology, design, and beyond. A 2023 Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Calmese served on the global advisory board for Estee Lauder Companies and is a professor at The New School’s Parsons School of Design in New York City. He is also an NYC Urban Design Forum Fellow, show director for the fashion brand Pyer Moss, and collaborated with Adobe Lightroom to design presets specifically for people of color.
Some Press.
Curbed. Dario Calmese Misses his Jean Paul Gaultier Corset
The New York Times André Leon Talley: Mentor in Chief
Luxeicon American Original
Dazed Dario Calmese Takes On Racial Bias in Photography
Sixtysix Mag Dario Calmese on Building a Future for the Next Generation of Black Designers
F-Stoppers How Community Led to Working with Adobe
The New York Times The Black Photographer Making History at Vanity Fair
The Guardian Dario Calmese: Vanity Fair's First Black Cover Photographer on His 'Love Letter to Black Women'
The New York Times When Pyer Moss Brought Police Brutality to the Runway
The Business of Fashion Voices From the Black Fashion Community on Moving Forward
Dazed Art Shows to Leave the House for This Month
Vogue Pyer Moss’s Kerby Jean-Raymond on the Making of His Biggest Choir Yet
Artsy Photographer Dario Calmese’s “Black Art Yearbook” Is Crucial to Art History
Vogue For Harlem Fashion Icon Lana Turner, Dressing Up for Sunday Service Means Vintage Yves Saint Laurent
Hyperallergic Rich and Varied Visions of Black Female Glamour
The New Yorker The Sunday Styles of Lana Turner, a Harlem Fashion Icon
W Magazine Inside the Legendary Wardrobe of Harlem Style Icon Lana Turner