Most people know her as a Supermodel and beloved wife of David Bowie. But how many know that she was a refugee, speaks five languages, and changed the world for many? As a victim of genital mutilation at the age of seven, a refugee at 16, and faced racial bias as model in the US her entire life has been a battle. She fought for herself, founded a cosmetics company that nets $25 million annually, and dedicates her life to fighting for others. But at the end of it all, she wants to be Greta Thunberg when she grows up.
The Refugee
At barely 16 Iman and her family had to leave their home with only the clothes on their backs. In Somalia tensions began increasing along the Somali-Ethiopian border as the complicated treaty with the Soviet union was coming to an end. There was a coup. Her mother, a physician, and her father, an ambassador were both activists. They were no longer safe. They found refuge in Kenya.
Iman was 16, but she knew the realities. She was in danger as most refugee women are. In her own words, “The most important thing about young girls becoming refugees is that people take advantage of them, whether through sexual harassment or rape. ” Never having worked before she needed a purpose to remain in Kenya. Refugees, even at 16, need to have use for a society to allow them to exist. Being in danger is simply not enough.
Her ability to speak 3 languages at the time gave tireless NGO volunteers the door they needed to get her work as a translator and justify entrance into the University of Nairobi to study Poly Sci. This also allowed her the ability to find housing instead of a tent.
While attending college in Nairobi, famous fashion photographer Peter Beard saw her randomly on the streets and he knew in a moment that she had the ‘it’ factor that would make her a natural model. He approached her and asked if she had ever had her photo taken. She assumed he was just another white man trying to take advantage of a young woman in Nairobi. She callously told him of course she had. Many times!
Peter was undeterred. He knew what he saw and the potential. He asked if he could take photos of her. She told him she would agree to allow him to take her pictures on the condition he paid off her student loans. He knew she was worth it. The photo shoot happened and her modeling career began.
The Model
As a young adult her modeling overseas would lead to her getting a work visa to model in the US. She soon learned that the color of her skin and her accent led people to think her less intelligent than she was. So she pretended to not speak English in her early work to see what they would say about her with her in the room.
In an interview with Vogue she spoke about what was said about her when they did not think she spoke English. “This experience taught me a lot about the US. People described me as if I were not human, like if I was coming from another world…I’m a person”
There was also an incident where she broke her silence. A magazine editor in the 70s said that Iman’s beauty was like a white girl that had been dipped in chocolate. Iman spoke to her in English and said, “Don’t take credit for it. I don’t have a white drop in me.”
She also soon realized as a black woman she was being paid half or less than Caucasian models. She was not a model, she was a black model. But she was also skilled in her craft and as her career grew she was the first black model in the industry to refuse work unless she was paid the same as the other models. This could have been the end of her career, but her strength of character and determined will that had already been through so much found her way to superstardom.
Working with legendary photographers like Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Annie Leibovitz, she would become a favorite muse for Halston, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, Issey Miyake, Donna Karan and Yves Saint-Laurent.
Her career entered the 1980’s as one of the leads in this new category of Supermodel. The Supermodel was the shift in the industry where homogeny was caving to the strong and unique women who were valued for individuality and became an integral part of the creative process of not just the photo shoots, but the very fashions they were wearing. The shift from models fitting into the fashions to women inspiring the fashions was underway and she was one of the superstars re-shaping two industries. She was such a household name she even did two episodes of Miami Vice, which was known for creating celebrity guest appearances in key episodes.
In her modeling career she often encountered a problem, though. Make-up artists were ill prepared with proper make up for a woman who was black or had any pigment to their skin that was not white. So she became a successful business owner.
The Business Woman
In an interview with Vogue, Iman spoke of the importance of having proper make up in her time as a model. “When you work in the industry, your looks are your currency. If you don’t have a good appearance, you won’t be booked again – and no one will blame the beauty team or the photographer. This made me start experimenting with makeup from an early stage. I would buy any foundation with pigment so I could mix and match.”
Iman knew this was a problem not only for women of color in modeling, but women of color from all walks of life. So in 1994 she launched a line of all inclusive make up for people of color with an intentional emphasis on the most difficult to find make up suitable for women of all varieties of brown and black skin.
Iman Cosmetics is not an exclusive and hard to find item. Amazon, Target, Wal Mart, and many other chains have it at affordable prices and heralded for it’s quality.
Today, Iman Cosmetics nets over $25 million dollars annually. That may not be on the Forbes 50, but those numbers have been consistent since 2010. For a company in it’s 30th year of operation headed by a 69 year old refugee who immigrated to America and became a citizen, that is impressive and successful by any reasonable measure.
She also has a clothing line exclusive to HSN called Global Chic and in 2021 she released a fragrance called “Love Memoir”. In a YouTube featurette she explained the color of the amber bottle symbolizes sunsets she and her husband, David Bowie, enjoyed. The shape of the bottle is of two stones, which is part of a spiritual practice where you place flat stones to guide people who come after you.
The Activist
The core of Iman’s advocacy and where her heart is lies in her work with CARE as their first-ever Global Advocate. She started that work in 2019 and is a force of nature.
She joined CARE because it was an NGO like them that found her in Kenya. Giving her a purpose and a job with housing and education was the difference between a life that makes a difference and a death on the streets.
According to the UN, there are over 117 million people forcibly displaced from their homes. More than half of them are children like she was when she fled for her life with just the clothes on her back. Our collective lust for power, money, and ability to wage wars over race, ethnicity, or religion create the situations and many of the nations that will host them are impoverished ones with few resources.
Her work with CARE is varied, but her emphasis is on saving lives, defeating poverty, and achieving social justice by empowering women and girls.
In an interview with W magazine she said this of her work.
” I want to make sure there’s a collective humanity. These aren’t nameless, faceless people, and they aren’t from far away. They’re everywhere; it happens to every country. All that’s unique is that there are more people fleeing nowadays.”
And of the potential for America?
“America is made of immigrants and refugees—people who hopes and dreams, who have talents and important contributions to make to their country, including their host country. I mean, look at me: America adopted me. I’m an American citizen. I have my own company. Everything I have now, I only have because I was shown dignity.”
It is not the only thing she is involved with. Over a decade ago she was finding that the industry she came from, fashion, was using less black models and some rising fashion companies since her retirement from modeling have never used black models or women of color. Her and Naomi Campbell assembled some others and reached out to the people they still had influence with and made sure that changes were made, and she was not afraid to leverage consequences if they did not embrace diversity and give proper representation.
She has also worked with groups like Keep a Child Alive, the Children’s Defense Fund, Save the Children, the Enough Project, and others.
At 69 years old, she is still moving forward and looks to the voices of Gen Z for inspiration. She truly admires the work of young women like Greta Thunberg and sees her as a hero who she aspires to be more like. She feels there is a huge import to generations working together. It is her hope that generations of women can work together to help the women in poverty and who are refugees for no fault of their own.
This is what a refugee can do if shown dignity.
What Will America Symbolize?
Our last article about the 40th Anniversary of Miami Vice touched on how art changed the city of Miami from being viewed as a place with ‘dirty’ immigrants from Cuba and Haiti to something wondrous. What changed was perception.
For years the worst of our views of refugee and immigration were set at the border of US and Mexico. But in this current national election cycle Springfield, Ohio has become ground zero for us to either shine or shame.
There are horrific false allegations that Hattian refugees are eating pets and even conjecture of cannibalism. Despite the press, the mayor and police of Springfield and the Republican Governor of Ohio reinforcing that none of this is true, schools have been forced to close for the safety of students because of sick people who hate immigrants and refugees and believe these horrific falsehoods.
There are also beautiful acts of kindness as local residents show appreciation to their Haitian neighbors by dining at their restaurants and shopping at their stores.
In the post 9/11 conflicts we bear the responsibility for creating refugees by displacing people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, The Philippines, Libya, and Syria. We were not solely responsible, but we were party to it. In a less direct sense there is a reality that we are party to the refugees from Haiti, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Palestine.
Springfield is not only a swing state for the next election, it could be a swing state in what we will become to the world. How will we be seen will be in how we treat others. The difference in life and death for Iman was ultimately found in dignity, and even when offered that she still had to fight indignities to become what she has.
The Model, Businessman, and the Activist
In the 70’s and the 80’s I did some modeling. Towards the end of the 80’s I started freelancing as a photographer and writer. Though I have not modeled since the 90’s I still write and photograph independently. Have I had the top shelf career she has had or had a business venture as successful? No. I’ve had a few shining moments but not an A list career despite having gone further than many will.
This gives me an understanding and respect as to the level of skill one has to do to rise to the top in their craft. To succeed in modeling or a business venture. I do the things I do as a white male and I cannot fathom having to meet the challenges a woman or a refugee has to face.
Between 2014 and 2023 I have had the privilege to do model testing and make several portfolios for models, musicians, and other local entertainers. In a few cases careers have advanced and to have been a part of that means so much to me.
One of those models recently lost his work visa. He has a wife and a son that was born here and I am not sure what will happen to them. Another friend I made on the road of life went home to see her mother who fell ill and there is a possibility she may not be able to come home to America. I say home because this has been her home for over 2 decades. Her husband is here, her friends are here, her career is here. And a family may be forever broken as will be many hearts.
As I write a YA book series based on a woman I dated in the 80s who was raped by my mentor I also know the dark side of modeling and what women endure at the hands of predators who have power and influence.
Iman is right. These are not nameless and faceless people. Our outrage without action is useless. Sharing this article or a meme will start the path of awareness, but we have to be intentional not only about what we share, but what we do next.
What will you do? We are all ambassadors.
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