Black is Beautiful: Celebrating the Life of Naomi Sims
The fashion world lost a revolutionary icon today. Legendary fashion model Naomi Sims died of breast cancer at the mere age of 61.
As one of the first US black models, Naomi Sims was a pioneer in putting dark beauty on the map with her breakthrough 1968 Ladies’ Home Journal cover shot.
She’s basically my hero. During a time when the 
media favored Caucasians, modeling agencies continuously denied Naomi and told her that her skin was too dark.
Despite this prejudice, Naomi pushed forward and worked hard to prove to the world that ‘Black is Beautiful.’ She took matters in her own hand and didn’t let others use the color of her skin as a disadvantage. She approached photographers herself and soon after that, the world couldn’t deny her talent and beautiful photographs. She soon found top designers approaching her to model for them.
I really admire her confidence and ability to take control without ever losing her determination. It’s icons like her that helped us realize that dark skin is just as beautiful. By helping place dark beauty on the map, she also paved the way for an entirely different and more ethnically varied style of fashion.
 Photo and information courtesy of: associatedpress.com
