black models
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Inclusion Is Easier Than It Looks—Just Ask Revlon
In 1992, our own Veronica Webb made history by becoming the first black model to land a major cosmetics contract. The brand? Revlon, which at the time was also launching ColorStyle (ColorStay’s predecessor), a line formulated for the then-neglected black consumer (I was one such consumer). Of course, these days, there’d likely be an outcry…
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She Got Game: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Rookie Ebonee Davis Plays by Her Own Rules
For 25-year-old model Ebonee Davis, her breakout moment was a 2016 TED Talk titled “Black Girl Magic in the Fashion Industry.” This was not your typical advice on beauty or how to get into modeling but, rather, a scathing indictment of the fashion business and its soul-crushing standards of beauty with regard to black women.…
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A Model Marriage: Chanel Iman Shows Us How Supermodels Say ‘I Do’
Last Saturday, while most of us were picking out our Oscar-watching pajama sets (and Michael Harriot was frantically looking for his lost invite to Bey and Jay’s Oscar after-party), model Chanel Iman and New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard were celebrating some California love at their nuptials at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel in…
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Paris Fashion Week: Ooh La La, Louis Vuitton!
Go, #TeamNatural! Paris Fashion Week ended with natural hair trending strongly on the runways, and Louis Vuitton’s show was no exception. Along with showcasing natural hair, designer Nicholas Ghesquière returned to the house of Louis Vuitton this season after a long absence from the runways and showed his own variation of the primary colors in…
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Paris Fashion Week: Chanel and McQueen Give Us a Contrast in Modern Classics
Chanel is the definition of classic. Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s longtime designer, has kept the label’s image moving by making modern classics out of tweed jackets, quilted leather bags and patent leather cap-toe boots, and by both adding sparkle to fabric and #BlackGirlMagic to the runways. This season, a full-scale enchanted forest played host to a…
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Paris Fashion Week: Saint Laurent Shows Us the Appeal of All-Black Everything
Seriously sexy suits cut from lush black velvet, sensuous silks, luxurious black leather and the vibrant palette of African wildlife have always been the hallmarks of the famed Parisian house of Yves Saint Laurent—now simply known as Saint Laurent. Saint Laurent’s current designer, Anthony Vaccarello, turned out an almost all-black collection, save for a few…
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Paris Fashion Week: Balmain Wants You to #JoinMyReality
Balmain, designed by 32-year-old Olivier Rousteing, the first person of color to head a French heritage brand, literally dazzled the crowd gathered at Paris City Hall for its Fall/Winter 2018/2019 presentation. Olivier R.—as the designer prefers to be called—sent out his #BalmainArmy in futuristic fabrics inspired by fantasies of a soon-to-be-real cyber mashup world. Holographic…
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Paris Fashion Week: Off-White x Nike Caused a Fashion Riot
Paris experienced a riot last week. Off-White designer Virgil Abloh knows how to draw a crowd, but his Fall/Winter 2018 runway presentation almost closed down before it opened. An uninvited and impromptu throng of sneakerheads gathered outside the venue in hopes of scoring a pair of Off-White x Nike, which Footwear News reported will be…
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Wrap Your Head Around This: Imaan and Iman Cover Vogue Arabia’s Anniversary Issue
I’m in love with Vogue Arabia’s first anniversary cover, which features the legendary Somalian supermodel Iman and this generation’s phenom, Imaan Hammam, a Dutch-born supermodel of Moroccan and Egyptian heritage. Wearing traditional head wraps, cloaked in clouds of Marabou feathers fresh off the couture runway of Saint Laurent, the two wonderful women—both of whom I’m…
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Paris Fashion Week: I Am Woman, Hear Me Dior
Dior makes very pretty clothes that are as easy to wear as they are to understand. I say that because, often, clothes can be pretty but puzzling at the same time. Now, under the direction of designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior speaks to women loud and clear. What’s Grazia Chiuri got to say? For one,…