Donyale Luna

In 1965 under pressure from the civil rights movement, ad
agencies and fashion houses had begun using more African-
American models. However, it was not until 1969 that they began
to have some crowning successes in the mainstream media.
Donyale Luna was the first major African American fashion
model, the earliest Black cover girl and widely accepted as the
first African American Supermodel. Donyale's star was without a
doubt one of the brightest in the fashion world of the Sixties. She
set the fashion world on fire with her brilliant sparkle, charisma
and her dynamic passion for life. She seemed to enchant all those
who came into her magnetic field. She has been described as
wild, singular and untamable, a true Diva. When asked from
where she hailed, Luna, as she was she was universally called,
would declare, "I'm from the moon, Baby!"
Her arrival in New York in 1964 had magazine editors and
designers competing to book her. According to The New York
Times, she had an exclusive contract to the prominent
photographer Richard Avedon for a year at the start of her
career. She was featured on the cover of "Fashions of the Times."
Although in American models of color made a huge splash in Paris in
In 1964, French designer Paco Rabanne structured his fashion
show in the USA using only black models. For Rabanne, a fashion
futurist, Luna was an ideal representative to show off the contrast
between the coldness of the metal used in his dresses and the
warmth of youthful black skin. Dazzling Luna stole the spotlight at
countless fashion shows. Sometimes she would crawl like a
panther or lie down and roll down the runway. These capricious
antics would cause an international uproar among photographers
and fashion editors and her fame continued to escalate.
Donyale made history in March 1966 when she became the first
African American model to grace the cover of British Vogue.
Earlier, a sketch of her had appeared on the cover of American
Harper's Bazaar. When asked about the exotic Luna, Pat
Cleveland was quoted as saying, "She never wore shoes.
Wherever she went, she would arrive in bare feet. She was so
beautiful that people would stop eating if they were in a restaurant
if they saw her walking by."
In April 1966, Time magazine published an article entitled "The
Luna Year", describing the spectacularly tall and slender model
with her trademark bright blue contact lenses and intermittent
blond wigs as "a new heavenly body who, because of her striking
singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season." In
1967, the mannequin manufacturer, Adel Rootstein, created a
mannequin in Luna's image, a follow-up to their legendary Twiggy
mannequin of 1966. She was undeniably the hottest model in
Europe when she was 20 years old. With a look that is as
significant today as it was more than 40 years ago, Donyale
Luna remains one of America's greatest beauty icons.
Copyright MMM60s 2010

[@NeeliAankhen]

great notes, thank you. Came looking for pix of Donyale as I remember her from NY in the 60s.

[@NeeliAankhen]

great notes, thank you. Came looking for pix of Donyale as I remember her from NY in the 60s. So sorry she did not live longer.

[@aziza7660]

You knew Her personally or of Her?

[@ericamccwilliams]

She is gogeous

[@ninosimone]

HER EYES AND MODEL BODY DREAM