No, Beverly Johnson wasn't the first black woman on a Vogue cover. That distinction belongs to Donyale Luna (born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit), whose wide eye and long fingers graced the cover of British Vogue in 1966.
Donyale Luna was eccentric, rewriting her simple Detroit upbringing for the public and seriously fudging her racial background — she claimed her mom was Mexican, her dad was actually a man named Luna, and her Irish grandmother had married a black interior decorator. She was the toast of Europe for a time. She died in 1979.
Beverly Johnson, who was definitely more of the all-American supermodel type, became the first black woman to grace an American Vogue cover in August of 1974, and her face stayed splashed on the magazines for a decade after.
What's she up to now? Well, in addition to the occasional appearance on ANTM and in Page Six, if you ever have need of an wig, she's your ex-supermodel!
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Oh, this cover is SO inspring. Beverly Johnson forever!
On a normal month, I'd have tia's sentiments but after "reading" 800 pages of ads and a bunch of crap articles sprinkled sparingly throughout, I don't care too much for Vogue. But yeah, I guess thanks for employing gorgeous black women who make your overrated magazine and overpriced products you're hocking look great.
That's a great shot. Very fresh makeup (for the time) and she just has a great effin face.
Oh boy, Stereohyped is "all in my world" as they say with the black model posts these days!
I won't bore you guys with Dorothea Towles trivia (Love!Her!) but I'll just agree that
Beverly Johnson was definitely one of the true groundbreakers for black models. Her American Vogue cover was huge and considered a black first because Americans don't pay much attention to British magazines (or much else outside of the U.S. unfortunately) and she was also more famous than Donyale Luna, who was known primarily in fashion circles.
It's kind of sad to me that she would only really be known today more so for her wig line and occasional ANTM appearances, but I guess that's just how it is when fame fades. I was a big model watcher and fashion junkie as a teen (dating myself big time here) and I remember what a huge deal she was as a model. Whenever she (or Iman of course) was in Vogue, Glamour or Harper's Bazaar I snapped it up and it was usually on my bedroom wall or in my locker at school.
Ah, fame is truly fleeting isn't it?