Life didn’t start out with being on the cover of Life Magazine for Naomi Sims. It actually started on the 30th of March 1948, in Oxford Mississippi. She was the youngest of three girls. Her father worked as a porter.
The family eventually moved to Pittsburg, but her mother became sick and put the girls into foster homes.
Maybe I should say it’s a long way from a foster home in Pittsburg, being black, and ending up on the cover of Life Magazine.
Naomi had an inner strength that gave her the courage to reach for something more. She was able to get a scholarship to The Fashion Institute of Technology. It was 1966, and she set out for New York.
While in New York she tried to get hired as a model. But she was being turned down by everyone. Black models were not in demand in 1966. But she didn’t give up, and decided to start contacting photographers.
Her first break came when Gosta Peterson photographed her, and got her on the cover of The New York Times: (Fashion Supplement.)
But even with this there wasn’t a lot of interest in black models, especially with very dark skin.
Finally she made an arrangement with Wilhelmina Cooper, which did begin to bring modeling work, and a very good weekly pay check. The big break came however when the Ladies Home Journal put her on the cover. And then the Life Magazine cover in 1969.
The ‘Black Pride Movement’ and ‘Black is Beautiful’, along with the Civil Rights Movement, all helped to bring along a more favorable black image, and lifted the public awareness everywhere, and certainly in the world of sixties fashions. All this helped Naomi Sims become accepted as well.
After modeling, Naomi saw a need, and began her own wig’s business. She manufactured wigs for black woman. It soon became a multimillion dollar enterprise and a leader in the black beauty industry.
Naomi Sims passed away last week….she will be greatly missed by her many admirers and fans…..
Often called the “First Black Supermodel”, she authored several books as well.
Her books include:
All About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman
Article by; D.A.Grosshans
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