Founder, Native Son

Emil Wilbekin is an Associate Professor of Journalism at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Wilbekin is a multimedia maverick who contributes to The New York Times T Magazine, Vogue, The Cut, Architectural Digest, Time, Essence, Ebony, and Town & Country. He is the Co-Producer and Co-Writer on the documentary The Remix: Hip Hip X Fashion (Netflix).

He is also the Founder of Native Son, a platform created to inspire and empower Black gay and queer men.

Wilbekin has served as Chief Content Officer at Afropunk, Editor-at-Large at Essence, Managing Editor of Essence.com, Editor-in-Chief of Giant and Giantmag.com, Style Guru at Complex Media, VP of Brand Development at Marc Eckō Enterprises, Editorial Director/Vice President of Vibe Ventures and Editor-in-Chief of Vibe Magazine. Under Wilbekin’s leadership, Vibe won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002.

He holds a B.S. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University