Naomi Sims: 1948-2009Few of us are firestarters or trailblazers in what we do. However, one could not say the same for Mrs. Naomi Sims, a true iconic fashion legend and dubbed the first Black Supermodel; paving the way for Beverly Johnson, Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks respectively. Resepect is indeed in order for someone who defied the odds, refused to sell-out, became self-made in an era where being a black entrepreneur (especially a woman) was slim to none and overcame. How's that for supermodel - Naoimi embodies the true sentiment of the word. It doesn't hurt that she attended our fellow school of FIT - NYC. Gotta love that! Take note on the bio and have a seat.
Naomi Ruth Sims was born at Oxford, Mississippi, on March 30 1948. Her parents divorced soon after her birth, and she never knew her father, who worked as a porter (her mother, however, later confided that he had been "an absolute bum"). Mrs Sims took her three daughters to live in Pittsburgh, but Naomi was subsequently brought up by foster parents. At Westinghouse High School she towered over her fellow pupils, who responded by ostracising her.
Her resolution to make something of her life took Naomi, in 1966, on a scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, which she combined with night classes in psychology at New York University. When she decided to become a model, however, her early encounters with the agencies were not encouraging: all turned her down, some taking the trouble to explain that her skin was too dark. Deciding to bypass the agencies altogether, she went directly to fashion photographers – a tactic that paid off when Gosta Peterson, a photographer for The New York Times, agreed to do a shoot for the cover of the newspaper's August 1967 fashion supplement.
While this was a considerable coup, Naomi Sims still found it difficult to get work. Eventually she told Wilhelmina Cooper, a former model who was starting her own agency, that she would send out copies of the The Times's supplement to advertising agencies, attaching Ms Cooper's telephone number; the agency would get a commission if Naomi found any work.
Within a year she was earning $1,000 a week, and appearing in a national television campaign for AT&T wearing the creations of the American designer Bill Blass. "It helped me more than anything else because it showed my face," Naomi Sims told Ladies' Home Journal in 1968. "After it was aired, people wanted to find out about me and use me."
Soon she was also modelling for other eminent designers, such as Halston, Teal Traina, Fernando Sánchez and Giorgio di Sant'Angelo. Black women began to emulate her slicked-back hair style. Her acquaintances included Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol.
By 1972 Hollywood had begun to take an interest in her, and she was offered the title role in the film Cleopatra Jones (1973). She declined after reading the script, which she said was racist in its portrayal of blacks.
Accordingly, she abandoned modelling after five years to launch a wig-making business for black women. At first she baked synthetic hairs in her oven at home to create the texture of straightened black hair; but within five years her designs, manufactured by the Metropa Company, had annual sales of $5 million.
She later expanded successfully into beauty salons and cosmetics, and wrote a number of books, among them All About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman; How to Be a Top Model; and All About Success for the Black Woman. She also wrote an advice column for teenage girls in Right On! magazine.
May she rest in eternal peace. - VS
