The groundbreaking Black models who changed fashion

In 1988 British model Naomi Campbell made history when she became the first Black model to secure the cover of Vogue Paris (now Vogue France) – aged just 18. Campbell credits this historic moment to the support of French designer Yves Saint Laurent, and the efforts of the talented Black models who came before her, determined to create a space for themselves in the fashion industry.

The history of Black models

Very little research has been carried out around the emergence of Black models into the mainstream Euro-American fashion industry.

For much of the 20^th century pervasive racism fuelled the assumption that Black models would not sell products, and so their modelling work was largely restricted to magazines and fashion brands specifically targeted at Black audiences, such as US magazines Jet and Ebony.

From the mid-20^th century things started to shift. A handful of women, including models Dorothea Towles and Donyale Luna broke through these barriers to find success in the international fashion world, testament to their skill and determination.

Building on and encouraged by their success, the 1960s and 1970s saw more Black models gain prominence. In 1973 the so-called Battle of Versailles charity fashion show – a high profile event held at the Palace of Versailles in France to raise money for its restoration – provided greater visibility to a group of Black American models, which included Bethann Hardison. Together they were largely credited with the Americans winning the fashion 'battle'.

The Black Girls Coalition

Despite individual successes, Black models faced, and still face, significant barriers in the industry – from racist casting, to colourism, unfair pay and being represented in exoticized ways. In 1988, Bethann Hardison and model Iman co-founded the Black Girls Coalition to celebrate the talent of Black models working at the time. This quickly evolved into an advocacy and support group, raising awareness on a range of issues, including homelessness and racism in advertising.

Dorothea Towles (1922 – 2006) is often cited as the first Black model to work with the top French fashion designers. After graduating from Wiley College in Texas and enrolling in modelling school, Towles moved to Paris in 1949 and found work with leading French designers including Christian Dior, Elsa Schiaparelli and Pierre Balmain. Remembering her experience modelling in Paris, she said: " for once I was not considered Black, African American [...] I was just an American."

She returned to the US in the early-1950s and found there were few jobs available for Black models. She toured American colleges with her collection of French fashion to raise funds for the women's social organisation Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated®.

North Carolina-born Sara Lou Harris (1923 – 2016) began modelling while studying for a masters degree in education at Columbia University in New York. She was represented by the Brandford Modelling Agency, the first licensed agency in the US specifically set up to represent Black models.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s Harris became a favoured model for Jet and Ebony magazines. From the 1960s to the early 1980s she travelled widely with her husband John Carter, who was Guyana's ambassador to multiple countries.

Born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit, Michigan, Donyale Luna (1945 – 79) became the first Black model to grace the cover of any Vogue (British Vogue, March 1966) in a photograph shot by David Bailey for the March 1966 edition. She also featured in various other periodicals including Elle, Vogue Italia and Harper's Bazaar.

Taken by the likes of Richard Avedon and Guy Bourdin, images of Luna in Paco Rabanne's futuristic metal disc dresses are some of the most striking and evocative of the period. Alongside modelling, Donyale pursued acting, appearing in films by Andy Warhol and Federico Fellini, with her opening fashion show scene in the film Qui Etes Vous, Polly Magoo (1966) satirising the fashion world.

Naomi Sims (1948 – 2009) first started modelling whilst studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She achieved widespread recognition when she featured on the covers of mainstream American magazines including Ladies Home Journal (November 1968), Life (October 17, 1969) and Cosmopolitan (August 1973). Sims also worked as a runway model for designers such as Halston, Bill Blass and Stephen Burrows.

After retiring from modelling in 1973, she became an entrepreneur, establishing a successful range of beauty products formulated for Black women.

New Yorker Bethann Hardison was born in Brooklyn and began modelling in the 1970s, appearing in both Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. Importantly, she walked for the American designers in the Battle of Versailles – a historic fashion show which marked a shift around American influence and diversity in the fashion industry.

After working for notable modelling agency, Click, she started her own agency in 1984. Along with model Iman, Hardison co-founded the Black Girls Coalition in 1988 to bring models of colour together and raise awareness through events and press conferences.

Born in 1950, Patricia Cleveland was raised by her mother in New York. In 1966 she was invited to take part in the touring Ebony 'Fashion Fair', spearheaded by Eunice Johnson, the pioneering Black businesswoman and co-founder of Ebony magazine.

Cleveland modelled in the 1973 Battle of Versailles fashion show and was a favourite catwalk model for a number of designers including Yves Saint Laurent, Halston and Thierry Mugler.

Born in 1952, Johnson starting modelling in 1971 whilst on summer break from university. She quickly landed an assignment for Glamour magazine and began to work with them regularly. In 1974 she became the first Black woman to secure the cover of American Vogue and was later the first Black woman to appear on the cover of French Elle (1975). Over the course of her impressive career, she appeared on more than 500 magazine covers.

Born in 1955 in the Trust Territory of Somaliland, Iman was 'discovered' by American photographer Peter Beard whilst studying political science at the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 1975. She quickly changed course and moved to the US to pursue a modelling career, securing her first assignment for Vogue in 1976.

Iman soon rose to prominence in the industry and became a muse for designers including Gianni Versace, Thierry Mugler and Yves Saint Laurent. In 1994, after almost 20 years in the industry, Iman established her own makeup line Iman Cosmetics which produced a range of shades for all skin tones.

Best known as a muse to Yves Saint Laurent, Mounia was first 'discovered' by French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy after being transferred from her job at the airport in Martinique, to Orly Airport in Paris. Enticed by the world of fashion, she soon appeared on the runway, walking first for Givenchy and then others, including Karl Lagerfeld and Thierry Mugler. She is remembered as one of the first Black models to walk for Chanel and a favourite of Yves Saint Laurent who she modelled for throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Gail O'Neill fell into the world of modelling in 1985 when she was approached at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York by photographer Chuck Baker and his wife Martha, a stylist. Working as a marketing representative for Xerox at the time, little did O'Neill know that this encounter would lead to her being on the cover of British Vogue just one year later.

Over the course of her career O'Neill worked with a variety of prominent photographers including Annie Leibovitz, Arthur Elgort and Steven Meisel, securing covers of American and Italian Vogue, Mademoiselle, Elle and Glamour before she began working in television, becoming a host for CNN's Travel Now series.

Hailing from Detroit, Veronica Webb is best known as the first African American model to land a major cosmetics contract. She began modelling aged 19 at a time when "there were a lot of limits on what Black models were told was available to us […] like covers, cosmetic contracts, the things that would make you the kind of money that could sustain you from the time you retired".

Her early career took her to Paris, where she worked with designers such as Azzedine Alaïa and Karl Lagerfeld, before she moved back to New York. In 1992 she secured a major exclusive contract with Revlon to launch their ColorStyle line. Reflecting on the moment she notes:

American fashion model Roshumba Williams moved from Chicago to Paris in 1987 determined to make her mark in the industry. She caught the attention of designer Yves Saint Laurent and became one of his 'cabine' models – a group that he worked with consistently – before making it on the runway.

She soon began modelling for other designers and became widely known after her first appearance in Sports Illustrated in the early 1990s. In 1999 she published the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being a Model which was a success.

In 2007 the Black Girls Coalition came together again in response to the stark decline in diversity on the catwalk. Bethann Hardison organised a series of meetings to discuss the poor representation of Black models in fashion, calling out casting directors who were explicitly specifying 'no blacks, no ethnics' in their casting calls.

These conversations led to the seminal July 2008 'A Black Issue' of Vogue Italia. Masterminded by Hardison and the magazine's editor, Franca Sozzani, the issue had an all-black casting. Shot by Steven Meisel, it had four covers – and four cover models – Naomi Campbell, Liya Kebede, Jourdan Dunn and Sessilee Lopez. The issue sold out in the UK within 72 hours, with Edward Enninful, who styled the shoot, remarking:

Campbell, Hardison and others continue to work towards equity on the catwalk and in magazines, using their platforms to highlight inequity and demand positive change for the future of fashion modelling.