Update on the “ALL BLACK” Vogue Italia
Posted by v on May 2, 2008
NEW!!!! - Sneak pics - July Vogue Italia. The all black issue of Vogue Italia is said to hit newstands in July 2008. In the meantime, Vogue Italia pays homage to black models from 1966 to the present. Donyale Luna kicks off the parade being the first African American model to grace the cover of Vogue UK in March of 1966 and you thought it was 
Beverly Johnson, who does not even make the list. Alek Wek, Naomi Campbell. Liya Kebede, Tyra Banks and Iman make the list. So does Denny Mendez, Miss Italia 1996. The Italian people’s choice was Denny Méndez, notwithstanding the objections of a pageant official who said, “A black girl can’t be Miss Italy. It’s not in the rules
There are lots of interesting facts about Donyale Luna, including an article in Time magazine published on 1 April 1966, “The Luna Year”, described the dramatically thin and tall (6′ 2″) model with the hallmark bright blue contact lenses and occasional blonde wig as “a new heavenly body who, because of her striking singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season. Donyale Luna, (born Peggy Ann Freeman) as she called herself, was unquestionably the hottest model in Europe at the moment. She makes Naomi pretty tame by all accounts.
In 1967, the mannequin manufacturer Adel Rootstein created a mannequin in Luna’s image, a follow-up to the company’s famous Twiggy mannequin of 1966. Interestingly, the whispered about cover girl Jourdan Dunn, is nowhere to be seen on this list. Hmm! Chanel Iman (below), the gorgeous Korean/African American girl wonder makes the list. She was supposed to be a contender for the cover. We’ll keep watching. (Vogue Italia)
Chanel Iman
July 7, 2008 at 6:42 pm
[...] http://www.fashioninsider.us Donyale Luna kicks off the parade being the first African American model to grace the cover of Vogue UK in March of 1966 http://vivremagazineonline.com/2008/05/02/update-on-the-all-black-vogue-italia/ [...]