The concept of a fashion show as entertaining charity event is not new -- people in the arts have never been strangers to social activism and philanthropy.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette The theme of this year's Ebony Fashion Fair was "Stylishly Hot." Click photo for larger image. Previous Coverage Ebony Fashion Fair 2006 Photo Journal

What the Ebony Fashion Fair achieves in this regard is what makes it noteworthy. In bringing couture to the masses in hills and hollers across America and the Caribbean, the traveling, all-black production has challenged standard definitions of beauty, instilled black pride and brought together some of the world's best designers and customers who can afford their creations but may never have heard of them.

Just as important, the 49th annual event that came to Pittsburgh last Tuesday has shone a bright spotlight on thousands of local charities. In so doing, it has encouraged millions of fashion-loving spectators to do something to help their communities once they leave the theater.

So as the show reaches a half-century milestone next year, it will be interesting to see what tricks organizers pull out of their Kokin. The owners -- the Johnson black publishing empire out of Chicago -- view and buy all of the clothes, even commissioning some special creations that are never seen elsewhere.

Clothes are warehoused after each season, so guests at the 50th anniversary season next year could see authentic looks from 10, 25, 45 years ago. Talk about a walk down memory lane.

As the Ebony Fashion Fair enters middle age, it in many ways mirrors the other baby boomers. While maintaining a mature sensibility, it is delaying the onset of old age if not getting younger.

The stage backdrop was made hipper and more hi-tech two years ago. The music has gone from a live band onstage to smoothed-out hip-hop and R&B. And the fashion repertoire is including more looks that are young and urbane.

In sum, there's plenty to please three generations, all of which were represented among the 600 guests last week inside the Byham Theater, Downtown.

But the formula hasn't been fixed where it isn't broken. The constants are there to stay: beautiful black models in a range of complexions, smooth choreography, a dose of humor and breathtaking fashion for any who desire to see.

Like New York's runway shows during fashion week, the Ebony Fashion Fair links the ordinary person to the fashion designer to the celebrity fan.

Zang Toi, who does diva-fabulous designs like few others in New York, picked up songstress Patti LaBelle as a customer during six years of exposure in the show. "It's been really good for us, really great exposure," he said.

Henry Jackson, a partner in and designer at the Gallery of Wearable Art in New York City, can say the same. One of the Ebony Fashion Fair's missions is to showcase black designers, and Mr. Jackson's creations have been part of the show for almost 25 years.

This season's tour includes two of his ensembles. A green coat with matching fringed silk dress and hat was custom-designed for the show. The other look, a black-and-white African bridal gown, was already made for a benefit this year for the Studio Museum of Harlem.

But Mr. Jackson said he felt he would get better exposure by selling the gown to the Ebony Fashion Fair. For years, he said, women who attend the show have "been in heavy pursuit" of his designs.

"Exposure in the black community is the most important aspect," he said. "It's nice to be acknowledged by your peers that are of color in the fashion industry."

As a result of participating in the show, Mr. Jackson said, he has outfitted actress Cicely Tyson on several occasions. His apparel also is worn by Eunice Johnson, the show's producer-director and wife of John H. Johnson, founder and longtime publisher of Ebony magazine.

In fact, Mr. Jackson said, few people realize that Mrs. Johnson is probably the world's biggest buyer of couture fashion, having spent millions during the last six decades on couture designs for the show and for herself.

And the beauty of that, he added, is that she allows ordinary people across America to get a personal look at them through the "glamorous presentation" that is the Ebony Fashion Fair.

The show is delightful spectacle, all agree. But the event's Pittsburgh chairperson, Audrey Anderson, says it is as much about service to her organization, the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, which hosts the show in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh show attracts a mostly black crowd from the metro area and as far away as West Virginia, Ohio and Detroit. Free upper-balcony seats are given to youth groups to inspire youngsters "to dream and get an idea of how far they can go as long as they stay focused," said Ms. Anderson.

So she and her committee work for about four months each year to ensure that the fall event is enjoyed by guests and lucrative for the local charity that will benefit.

Over the past several years, for example, an average of more than $2,000 in proceeds has been donated each year to nonprofits such as the African American Cultural Center, Lydia's Place, Gwen's Girls and the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.

Ms. Anderson hopes that the spotlight on human need will encourage civic volunteerism, echoing the message of self-empowerment promoted by the Ebony Fashion Fair.

"If we don't do it," she said, "nobody else will."