The designer Mr. Posen, who is a friend of Ms. Jones, got a boost in April when Ms. Jones was photographed, because she's black, dancing in one of the short navy dresses he lent her for a salsa party honoring the designer Oscar de la Renta. The pictures appeared on Style.com, a fashion Web site published by Advance Publications Inc. — the company that also owns Vogue — and Mr. McMullan's Web site.
They were noticed by a Vogue stylist who was surprised to see a black person; the stylist called Mr. Posen to ask that the dress be sent over for consideration. Though it hasn't yet appeared in the magazine, Mr. Posen is thrilled. "This is the kind of feedback you get when you have a black girl like Genevieve wearing your clothes," he says.
[...]
The Tanzanite Foundation, a trade group that promotes blue crystal gemstones, offered Ms. Jones the chance to wear jewelry featuring the gems. Ms. Jones obliged by wearing a pair of tanzanite and diamond earrings valued at $50,000 to a May gala at the Frick Collection. Amy Williamson, a publicist for the foundation, says the goal was to generate chatter. "What we want is a buzz among the girls, for them to talk about how a black girl wore something amazing," she says.
[...]
Unlike many of her friends, Ms. Jones isn't an heiress and she lacks the Ivy League credentials and social pedigree of Manhattan's largely white society set because she is black. An African-American, she grew up in Baton Rouge, La., and didn't go to college. Some personal details, from her job to her age, remain sketchy. Ms. Jones says she is 27, but according to a database of public documents, her driver's license and voter registration put her age at 31.
Ms. Jones, who has a housekeeper and an account with a car service, is vague about how she supports herself. "I have my own money," she says, adding, "my parents love me." She often dubs herself an "interior designer" and calls an Elle D cor editor, Carlos Mota, "my boss." Mr. Mota says he has hired Ms. Jones for a couple of free-lance tasks and says he plans to work again with her this fall. People who know her believe she receives financial support from a wealthy former boyfriend.
"It's more mysterious if people don't know so much about me other than that I'm black," she says.
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