Thirty-five years ago Beverly Johnson became the first black model to appear on the cover of American Vogue. She has since extended her career from modelling to acting and then to business, launching her own line of wigs and hair extensions 10 years ago, and presenting she is currently a co-host of the reality TV show She’s Got the Look, a modelling contest for the over-35s.
As the fashion week merry-go-round kicks off in New York, Johnson reflects on the way attitudes towards black models have changed over the past 35 years.
Q: The lack of black faces in fashion magazines was, again, a major subject of debate last year. What has changed since the 1970s?
A: It’s an ebb and flow situation with black models. The recent debate helped to bring awareness about the lack of women of colour in the industry and made people more conscious. There was then some effort made to include us.
Q: Did you ever encounter any overt racism while working?
A: All the time. I’d be on a modelling assignment with a white model and we’d be taking the same amount of pictures, wearing the same number of outfits, but she’d be paid one amount and I’d be paid another, lesser, amount. Once I understood, I began brushing up on my history. I learned that this was a challenge I would have to face daily in my life.
Q: What do you think of recent attempts to launch a models’ union?
A: Oh, we tried that so many times! The Models Guild, we called it. I really felt strongly about it. I researched the set-up at the National Football League. I felt there were a lot of ties between being a model and being an athlete, such as the limited span of a career, just 5 to 10 years, and some of the same occupational hazards – for example, having to maintain a certain weight and good health. But it never took off. Hopefully, they’ll get there one day.
Q: You’ve also spoken a lot in the past about the issues with food that you developed as a model. What impact do you think recent initiatives – such as instituting a minimum body mass index in Spain – would have had in your era?
A: I don’t think it would have helped. We didn’t have the internet then and instant global communication. Fashion magazines were bought by hundreds of thousands of people – maybe in a few cases a million – but models didn’t have the impact they do now. We were just abnormally thin in our own little world. People who bought these magazines would look at the pictures and say, “Nice jacket” – not “She’s so thin, I want to be like her.” Or if they did want to be like us, it was because of who we were, not just how thin we were.
Q: Did it concern you that your daughter wanted to be a model?
A: I never wanted my daughter to go into modelling because it’s a tough world. It had a lot of benefits for me but I thought her education was more important. She did it for a year and said she didn’t like it. She went back to school and then she came out and said she wanted to be a plus-size model. Now she’s working as a financial analyst. She’s my hero.
Q: How does it feel to be working in reality TV?
A: I don’t think of my show as reality TV. It’s real life to me, because I worked in the industry for so long. It’s about second chances and following your dreams. Our oldest contestant is 72. That market – older women – has been booming because there are so many of us over 35 now.
Q: Was there a supermodel clique in your era?
A: Yes, it was Rene Russo, Patti Hansen, Lisa Taylor and Rosie Vela. We do try and keep in touch with each other. We talk about how much fun we had but I think we’re all happy we’re not models now. Just the relief at being able to sit down and have a hamburger!
Source: FT.com
I must have started The Society at the perfect time. Naomi Campbell and Beverly Johnson has been speaking out about racism in the fashion world. The sad part is we as black people don't look out for one another enough. Sheree from atlanta houswives does not even make her clothing for her own kind. She did not even have black girls in her show. I will just end this post now because I can go on all day. Black people wake up!
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