From an ambitious fashion blog to a cultural force, Claire Sulmers celebrates two decades of putting multicultural fashion, celebrity style and emerging talent front and center
Twenty years ago, Claire Sulmers wanted a seat at Vogue.
She didn’t get one.
So she built her own table.
What started in 2006 as an independent fashion blog has grown into Fashion Bomb Daily, a media and cultural brand that has spent two decades documenting the style, influence and creativity of communities that mainstream fashion media too often overlooked.
During New York Fashion Week, Sulmers celebrated that journey with the 6th Annual Bomb Fashion Show, bringing together fashion, music and entertainment for a milestone celebration that felt less like a retrospective and more like a declaration that Fashion Bomb Daily is nowhere near finished.
“I couldn’t find a seat at the table, so I made my own,” Sulmers announced.
And judging by the room, quite a few people wanted a seat at hers.
The champagne-themed evening drew a star-studded crowd that included world champion boxer Claressa Shields, Papoose, Cuban Link, Honey Bxby, Mo Money, DJ Drewski, DiDi J and Lavaud, along with designers, influencers, entrepreneurs and entertainment insiders.
But the real star of the evening was the institution Sulmers created.
Fashion Bomb Daily emerged at a time when multicultural fashion coverage was still fighting for space in traditional media. Sulmers didn’t simply report on Black style. She built a platform where Black designers, celebrities and tastemakers could be seen on their own terms.
“It’s just a platform for people who don’t see themselves represented in traditional media,” Sulmers told Radio/TV personality Jazmyn Summers for Radio One “And for so long, traditional media has struggled to embrace emerging hip hop, people of color, people of different sizes. So I hope that we are the answer to that problem.”
Two decades later, the answer has expanded far beyond a website.
Fashion Bomb Daily has grown into live events, e-commerce, branded partnerships, original content and fashion experiences, while Sulmers herself has become a recognizable voice in the industry. A Harvard graduate, she has contributed to Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris and ESSENCE, authored The Bomb Life and appeared on national television programs including Tamron Hall, The Kelly Clarkson Show and CBS Mornings.
Yet when asked about those beginnings, she described a much simpler dream.
“Never. I just wanted to work at Vogue,” she shared. “I didn’t know that I would have my own company.”
Now, she is Vogue with a platform she owns.
The runway featured collections from BruceGlen, FGM Bespoke, Jai Lyle and Mahogani Collections, reinforcing one of Fashion Bomb Daily’s central missions: creating visibility for multicultural designers during one of fashion’s biggest weeks.
And Then There Was Claressa
Fashion Bomb Daily has featured Claressa Shield’s style over the years, including identifying a full Akira look she wore to Fight Night in Atlanta, part of the outlet’s signature “You Ask, We Answer” celebrity-style coverage. In another Fashion Bomb Daily feature, Shields’ red-carpet styling was framed around Black creative collaboration, highlighting the stylist, hairstylist and makeup artist behind her look.
So when Shields showed up for Fashion Bomb Daily’s 20th anniversary, she wasn’t simply another celebrity in the room. She was part of the very culture the platform was built to document. But of course, when you put a world champion boxer in a room with a microphone, somebody is going to ask about the fight.
Not the boxing match but the viral beef involving rapper Remy Ma who has released several dis tracks allegedly against Claressa, followed by one from Claressa’s boo Papoose. But the three-time Olympic gold medalist and 21-time world champion made it clear she’s focused on her career, her man and the next fight.
“I am building a brand. I have something I stand for,” Shields said. “I don’t know what the animosity is, but I really do not care.”
Then came the line that will probably live beyond the runway.
“She can fight by herself,” referring to Remy Ma.
“I’m just fighting champions and they’re in the ring” she declared announcing a new fight in early 2027. She’s also plans to continue to produce films and indicated she would love Angela Bassett to play her and Morris Chestnut to take on the role of Papoose in a future or next chapter of her biopic.
The spicy exchange fit perfectly into the larger Fashion Bomb Daily universe: powerful people defining themselves, their careers and their image on their own terms.
RELATED STORY: All The Reasons Why We’re Obsessed—And Inspired—By BruceGlen’s Newest Fashion Drop
RELATED STORY: Claressa Shields Retains Crown After Unanimous Win Over Franchon Crews-Dezurn
Beyond the Gates, Beyond the Stereotypes
That same spirit showed up with Brandon Clabon, who plays Martin Richardson on Beyond the Gates.
The CBS daytime drama has broken new ground with its depiction of a Black family and an interracial gay couple, something Clabon described as “absolutely historical.”
“There’s never been an interracial gay couple on daytime TV,” he said. “So we’re breaking barriers.”
Clabon said Martin and Smitty’s relationship works because it isn’t reduced to a stereotype. They are fathers, husbands and professionals who love each other while still having disagreements about family and work.
“They’re passionate about their family. They’re passionate about their work and their career,” he said. “They both understand each other and they want the best for each other.”
Clabon has also had to dig into some emotionally difficult material as Martin, particularly a storyline involving racism that triggers his character’s PTSD.
“I’m originally from Memphis, Tennessee. I know racism,” he said. “And I know when it’s blatant right in front of your face or when it’s subdued and you don’t even know what’s happening.”
The actor said the experience was heavy enough that he had to make sure he could leave Martin’s trauma on the set.
His real-life personality, however, is considerably lighter.
Asked whether he was married, Clabon laughed and revealed that he is very much single.
Could people slide into his DMs?
“Baby, I am for the streets.”
And what is he looking for?
“No, I’m not looking for anything.”
Apparently, Martin may be a devoted husband, but Brandon is keeping things considerably more open-ended.
His biggest pet peeve is bad customer service, something he attributes partly to his mother, who worked as a customer service representative for 40 years.
His bad habit?
Chewing gum.
“I kind of had to stop,” he said, recalling that his mother used to pop him when he chewed gum in church.
Twenty Years Later, The Table Is Full
The significance of Fashion Bomb Daily’s anniversary isn’t simply that a blog survived for 20 years.
It is that Sulmers built something that grew with the culture.
The people who once struggled to find themselves represented in fashion media now have a platform that documents our designers, our celebrities, our beauty, our bodies, our style and our powerful influence.
And the names that have passed through Fashion Bomb Daily’s orbit over the years tell their own story: NeNe Leakes, Vivica A. Fox, Eva Marcille, Misa Hylton, Ty Hunter, Jayda Cheaves, Ashley Darby, Draya Michele, Marlo Hampton, Lil Mama, Chanel West Coast, Quincy Brown, Yandy Smith, Justin Combs, Cynthia Bailey, Sevyn Streeter, Rome Flynn, DreamDoll and Ledisi, among many others.
For Sulmers, the next 20 years won’t simply be about preserving what she has built.
She wants to expand it.
“I think more exclusive content, video, podcasts, all the things. TV,” she revealed to Summers.
Twenty years after creating her own seat at the table, Sulmers appears to be building a much bigger room.
And judging from that night, there are plenty of people ready to walk through the door.
Article by Jazmyn Summers. You can hear Jazmyn every morning on “Jazmyn in the Morning “on Sirius XM Channel 362 Grown Folk Jamz. Subscribe to Jazmyn Summers’ YouTube. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram.