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00:00:00Hi, I'm Amina Warsuma, and welcome to my story about a black model in Paris.
00:00:16That would be me.
00:00:19It all started in 1972 when I was modeling in New York.
00:00:26I lived uptown with my family, and I had this urge to go to Europe.
00:00:32At that particular time, there weren't any black models in Europe at all.
00:00:37I mean, it was unheard of.
00:00:39The closest thing to a black model was Josephine Baker, but she was a nightclub dancer and
00:00:46showgirl, almost like Las Vegas.
00:00:49She brought Las Vegas to Paris.
00:00:53I had wished and wished and wished that I could go to Paris.
00:00:56Oh, that was just like a dream come true, with all the fashion and the great designers
00:01:03and the clothes, stuff that I couldn't ever afford, and the runways and the excitement.
00:01:13Paris was the fashion capital of the world.
00:01:16It was considered the fashion capital of the world then.
00:01:22New York was then Seventh Avenue.
00:01:25Now it's Fashion Avenue, but American designers weren't considered couture.
00:01:32They weren't considered designers.
00:01:34They were considered more ready-to-wear, sportswear, even though they were doing evening clothes
00:01:40and they were doing pillbox hats and they were doing fashion in the movies, but the
00:01:47French didn't consider them designers.
00:01:51So I went.
00:01:52I got a ticket from Karl Lagerfer, who was working for Khloe at the time.
00:01:58He was running Khloe, through Antonio Lopez, which I do have a photograph of.
00:02:05I'm in his book wearing a Stephen Burroughs pink lettuce gown, and Stephen was like one
00:02:11of the first to do the lettuce around the dresses and pants.
00:02:17The bottom pant leg would be lettuce.
00:02:21So Karl sent me a ticket, round-trip ticket.
00:02:26I came to Paris.
00:02:27They met me at the airport, put me up in a hotel, and he told me, he said, you've got
00:02:33two weeks.
00:02:35After two weeks, if you don't make it, you go back home, and I was like, oh my God.
00:02:42I was the only black woman that I saw in Paris.
00:02:48I saw Africans, but they weren't models.
00:02:53They were just walking the street from Africa.
00:02:59And when I got there, it was like this, oh, it was just fantastic.
00:03:05The biggest thing that ever happened to me.
00:03:10I was like a dream come true.
00:03:13I had never been overseas, and all the excitement that was there was like, wow, I was only 17.
00:03:22Anyway, he said I had two weeks to make it.
00:03:28So I'm thinking, okay, how am I going to make it in two weeks?
00:03:31I'm there to do his show.
00:03:33He said, after that, I'm not going to support you.
00:03:39So I did his show.
00:03:43And from that, I got with an agency called Crystal, at the time it was a modeling agency.
00:03:49From that show, all the press, all the newspaper, fashion people from all over the world were
00:03:57at his show.
00:03:58And I walked out on that runway, and I instantly became a hit.
00:04:05Two weeks, I wind up staying six months in Paris.
00:04:08I worked for Courreges, I worked for Karl Lagerfer constantly.
00:04:15I worked for Dorothy Beas, and so many other designers.
00:04:19I found myself going from show to show.
00:04:23It was just fabulous.
00:04:26And I do have the pictures to show, and pictures will be shown throughout the tape of me in
00:04:33Paris and in Europe, walking the runway.
00:04:37Also in magazines.
00:04:38I did a great deal amount of work.
00:04:43After the show came, I was a hit.
00:04:45After two weeks, I started supporting myself.
00:04:47Now, the only thing that I found that was hard, I couldn't speak the language.
00:04:51The only thing I could say is, Garçon, s'il vous plaît.
00:04:55Monsieur, mesdames, bonsoir, au revoir.
00:05:02That was the only things that I could say.
00:05:04But most of the people in Paris spoke English.
00:05:06Somebody spoke English.
00:05:08So English was like a second language.
00:05:11Also, after the shows, we would go to these fabulous parties.
00:05:16I remember going to the club set.
00:05:18I think they called it New Jimmy's.
00:05:20No, no, no, that's Regine's place.
00:05:24I can't think of the name that he calls it now.
00:05:26He made it into this big nightclub, like a studio 54, a Parisian studio 54.
00:05:34And I would go there like every night, the club set.
00:05:37And he would give me free dinners, the guy who owned it.
00:05:39He was very nice.
00:05:40The French were very nice to me.
00:05:44I didn't have a problem with them.
00:05:48They seemed to roll the red carpet out for me.
00:05:52I never had to pay for anything except, you know, I would go shopping, I would go on shopping
00:05:57sprees and buy all these French clothes, you know, ready to wear, not evening.
00:06:03I got a gown from Corrèges.
00:06:05It was a pink gown, I remember, with a hooded long cape.
00:06:12And I had been invited to go to the Martins' party.
00:06:17I think they owned Martins' paint.
00:06:20And they were giving their daughter, she was like 16, and they were giving her a debutante
00:06:26kind of ball.
00:06:27And they spent like almost like $100,000 on this party.
00:06:31And it was fabulous.
00:06:33The theme was Arabian and they had big, you know, black African men, you know, muscle
00:06:40men standing at the door, you know, dressed as giant genies.
00:06:45You know, and you walked in, you had to say, the man announced you, uh, Madame Amina Warsuma,
00:06:53you know, and you had to bow and curtsy to the daughter, she was 16, to the mother and
00:06:58the father.
00:06:59And the man would announce, it was such a fabulous party.
00:07:03And in those days, we went to fabulous parties.
00:07:06When people gave parties, they would spend $100,000, $50,000, $60,000, $20,000 just on a party.
00:07:17Imagine.
00:07:19And you had the Rothschilds, you had all the elite people in Europe who would come, the
00:07:24high society people, and they weren't a bit snobbish with me, and I found that to be really
00:07:31refreshing.
00:07:32They opened arms and they welcomed me, and they were warm to me.
00:07:37And the funny thing, when I was in France, I didn't eat French food.
00:07:40I would always eat spaghetti because I didn't understand, you know, what the food was, and
00:07:47I was always kind of skeptical about eating food that I didn't understand, you know, I
00:07:51didn't understand the name of the food, what was in it, and I had to watch my diet, so
00:07:56that was another thing, too.
00:07:58So I would eat spaghetti, I would eat simple things.
00:08:00I didn't go, you know, like eating the heavy French food, like with all the whipped cream
00:08:05and the parfaits and the pastries and the, you know, because the French food is really
00:08:11kind of fattening, if you think about it.
00:08:15It's exquisite, but it's really fattening.
00:08:19So the parties, I would go out dancing every night, every night, every night, every night.
00:08:25And this is the funny thing, I didn't feel too far away from home, because I would go
00:08:30and when I went to the club set, after you ate dinner, there was a disco, like, in the
00:08:35next room, and so the guy that was there, he was a black guy, he was a black guy, he
00:08:41was from America, so that was the only other black person I saw that was from America,
00:08:45but he was sort of like in the disco, he was the DJ, and he had all kinds of records, and
00:08:50I would always tell him, play James Brown, play James Brown, because James Brown was
00:08:53my favorite.
00:08:54That was my, one of my biggest inspirations for dancing was James Brown.
00:08:59When I saw him at the Apollo Theater, I just said, oh my God, I just have to learn how
00:09:03to dance and keep dancing, and that's when I started dancing.
00:09:06But he would play James Brown and I would dance every night, and that's how I would
00:09:09stay thin.
00:09:11So I would work all day as a model, and then I would go out at night and I would dance.
00:09:17And the people just welcomed me with open arms.
00:09:20And from Paris, one thing I did have a problem with was getting most of my money.
00:09:28I remember going to the agency and I was asking her for my money, because I had worked
00:09:34so much.
00:09:35I was working, like doing like three or four shows a day for like three or four weeks,
00:09:40and I didn't see any money.
00:09:42But the only thing, my hotel bills were being paid, you know, I had a little money for food,
00:09:47that she would give me a little money for food, the agent, but I didn't see my money.
00:09:51And I wasn't the one talking directly to the client.
00:09:54Like here, you speak English, you can go directly to the client and say, oh, you know,
00:09:58pay me.
00:09:59I worked, you know, how many francs or whatever, how many dollars do you need to pay me?
00:10:03And I remember going into the agency and literally begging her for my money.
00:10:12And she didn't really want to give it to me.
00:10:18And I started crying and crying.
00:10:21And she just sat there and watched me cry.
00:10:23And then finally, she gave it to me.
00:10:25I can't remember how much, but it was quite a bit.
00:10:29You know, all the back work that I had, all the back pay that she had owed me was actually
00:10:33quite a bit.
00:10:34And it's like, okay, what am I going to do with all this money?
00:10:37Well, I did go on a shopping spree.
00:10:39So and then from there, I went to Germany.
00:10:44I went to Switzerland.
00:10:46I went to Spain, Barcelona.
00:10:49I went to Milano.
00:10:51I was with Guy Ricciardo in Milano.
00:10:52That was another big agent.
00:10:54I think now in Europe, all the agencies have joined together almost like the Eurodollar
00:11:01where all the agencies in all the countries are connected.
00:11:06It's not just separate agencies.
00:11:08And in London, I went to London.
00:11:10I was with an agent in London.
00:11:13And the only other black girl I saw, she was Martinique and her name was Josie.
00:11:19And she was from Martinique.
00:11:20And she was much darker than I, but she spoke French and she spoke a little English also.
00:11:26She spoke English and French.
00:11:28So that was the only other black girl that I saw.
00:11:31There was no black African-American model in Europe in 1972.
00:11:38There was a black model named Daniel Luna, and she claimed to be Italian.
00:11:44She was lighter-skinned than me, and she claimed to be an Italian.
00:11:49But I'm speaking about a dark-skinned African-American model.
00:11:54I was the first one.
00:11:56There was another young lady that was there, but she was not dark-skinned.
00:12:01And I was the first dark-skinned African-American model, which made a big statement because
00:12:11in Europe, there wasn't affirmative action.
00:12:14There was no affirmative action.
00:12:17You could not say, oh, I am black, I am dark, I am dark French, you know, hire me.
00:12:27I'm French.
00:12:28I'm French.
00:12:29There was no distinction between black French and white French.
00:12:33You either Martinique, which you were dark, you were very, very dark, you would be mistaken
00:12:40for a black person, and you said, well, I'm not black, I'm Martinique, but yeah, you're
00:12:45black.
00:12:46But you could not fight, and just 1972, affirmative action was just coming into play because you
00:12:56had all these black exploitation movies that were being shown in the cinemas in America.
00:13:04And so blacks were really fighting, or they had been fighting for a place in corporate
00:13:12America, and they had been fighting for success, you know.
00:13:19So affirmative action had just, you know, came into play, and so I became successful.
00:13:31And I don't think it was just because of affirmative action.
00:13:34I think I had been modeling for four years prior to that, from 1968, I, for four years,
00:13:42I walked around, I knocked on doors, nobody would hire me, nobody would test me, and I
00:13:50just kept knocking, and then some would and some wouldn't.
00:13:53So the ones that did test me, I counted as wins, and the ones that didn't, I just didn't
00:13:59look at it as a loss, I just kept moving forward.
00:14:03Because I was always told, when one man says no, go around the corner, another man will
00:14:11say yes.
00:14:12So you don't know what's around the corner, and I was always the type of person that,
00:14:16you know, I was adventurous.
00:14:17And I just didn't, I mean, for some reason, this was sort of like, before affirmative
00:14:24action, I started doing this, you know, going around, and the only black model that was
00:14:30really big in America was Naomi Sims, we're talking about dark skin, because dark skin
00:14:36at that particular time, you didn't have Essence magazine, you had Ebony.
00:14:41And so dark skin models were not considered, how can I say, beautiful, as a whole.
00:14:52You know, there wasn't really a market for them.
00:14:55So you had Ebony, who had the fashion fair, and she had a market where black models could
00:15:01go and work and model and go on the runways, which I never was a part of.
00:15:08I was in Ebony magazine, but I never was a part of the fashion runway.
00:15:12I think that was, you know, I was kind of young at that time, and I didn't think about
00:15:16runway at that particular point.
00:15:18I was basically thinking about print and being in photographs and creating my own style and
00:15:26my own look that was kind of unique from anyone else.
00:15:32And at that time, they didn't have perms.
00:15:35And I think I was like one of the first, you know, women of color who used, I mean, there
00:15:41were women of color who used perms, because it was like perma-straight, and it was like
00:15:45light.
00:15:46You put it on your hair, it made your hair straight, and sometimes it even made your
00:15:48hair come out.
00:15:49And I just did it, and I would have like a Marcel, which was really nice.
00:15:56So I had this look about me that was unique, and this personality that was very funny.
00:16:03I've always been very funny, but I had this personality that was pretty unique.
00:16:07A strong personality, great body, and you had to have that.
00:16:13And I was kind of quiet because I had a speech impediment, so I couldn't really talk like
00:16:19I can talk now.
00:16:20Oh my God, once it went away, you should see me, I just don't stop talking.
00:16:24But I had a speech impediment, so I was kind of ashamed of, you know, my vocabulary.
00:16:30I was kind of ashamed of talking to people.
00:16:34And also I realized that the schools didn't have the same books as the white schools had.
00:16:42So the vocabulary was quite different.
00:16:45My vocabulary was quite different, quite lower than the person who went to a white school
00:16:52in a white neighborhood.
00:16:54Their vocabulary was different.
00:16:56They spoke different.
00:16:57It was a distinct difference because segregation was a big part.
00:17:03Even though we were integrated, we still were segregated.
00:17:07So that was a big part, and we had our own language, you know.
00:17:12Now they call it Ebonics, but back then, it was just broken English, you know.
00:17:18You spoke, you know, most people were from the South, so you spoke with a Southern accent
00:17:24or you spoke, you know, Southern broken English.
00:17:27It wasn't really proper English, you know.
00:17:33But you got your point across.
00:17:36So style was a big way of getting a point across.
00:17:40Style and beauty and, you know, being a woman of color, that was always a big plus, a big
00:17:51point in, I think, our culture, you know, doing something with our hair.
00:17:59We always had problems with hair, you know.
00:18:01So when I went to Europe, they didn't have the products and finding products for my hair
00:18:06and makeup.
00:18:08That was another big problem, finding makeup that matched my skin tone, that looked good.
00:18:14I would have to go around and search, you know, every counter, you know.
00:18:19I would go to Lancome for the mascara.
00:18:21I would go to Estee Lauder.
00:18:24She had a makeup line that she had from ivory all the way to black.
00:18:30She had a base that was this color.
00:18:33I was like, wow, who is that color?
00:18:35I guess, you know, but I guess there are people that color, you know, like the old Black Sambo
00:18:42pictures.
00:18:43I guess they were doing something like that.
00:18:44I don't know why she had that color.
00:18:46Maybe she mixed it, or maybe she had it so you could mix it.
00:18:50But she had a color and it was a fresh air base.
00:18:53As soon as they would have a color for women of color, they would, once it got popular,
00:18:59because I would use it all the time, I don't know, you know, what happened, they would
00:19:03discontinue it.
00:19:04You know, she went on to something else.
00:19:06It's like, why do you discontinue it?
00:19:08I need it continuously.
00:19:10You know, now I have to search around and mix colors together.
00:19:15I had a makeup man in Hollywood, William Tuttle, who I would, you know, call and have him mix
00:19:21up a batch of makeup for me, you know, because you had to have it custom made.
00:19:25They weren't, they weren't, you know, they weren't makeup.
00:19:30They weren't products that catered to black women back then.
00:19:35You had certain products, but it was like, okay, perma-stripe, and that thing was strong.
00:19:40I mean, it was like lye.
00:19:43You could do a process with that.
00:19:46But I would use like a half a jar, because you keep it on your head, it would just burn
00:19:51your head and it would just make your hair so straight, you know.
00:19:55So I used that.
00:19:56You know, when I went to Europe, you know, there was no perma-stripe, there was no, you
00:20:04know, makeup that was my complexion.
00:20:07So I would have to buy enough.
00:20:09And when I, you know, have enough for when I was in Europe, if I ran out, I couldn't
00:20:13run out of my base and stuff like that.
00:20:15But, you know, like the lipsticks and stuff I could get by with, and mascara and eyeshadows,
00:20:21I could buy that, you know, anywhere.
00:20:24But the base was really hard, and hair products were very hard.
00:20:28So when they came out with Ultrasheen and Posners and all these black products, later
00:20:36on started flooding the market.
00:20:38I say like the late 70s, late 70s, you could find stuff.
00:20:45And hair, it's like, what do you do with our hair?
00:20:49So when I would be in the fashion show, it was like, how do we do your hair?
00:20:54So I would have to do my own hair, because they didn't know how to handle my hair.
00:20:58They didn't have hot combs, they didn't have, you know, they had hot curlers, but they just
00:21:03didn't know how to handle my hair.
00:21:04So I would have my hair, I would fix my hair, do my hair the way I want it to be done, leave
00:21:09it like that.
00:21:10I kept it short.
00:21:11Fabulous.
00:21:12I had a style about me.
00:21:13And that look, you know, I ran it, I mean, I ran it to the gauntlet with that look.
00:21:21I just, you know, kept it and it stayed for a while, you know, stayed for many, many years,
00:21:26which was great.
00:21:30What is so interesting about it is when I went to Germany.
00:21:36I went to a hair show in Germany, which is, you know, I'm just saying, they didn't know
00:21:41how to do my hair and they booked me for a hair show in Germany.
00:21:46But I wasn't doing, hair was not, I was not modeling hair.
00:21:51I was modeling makeup.
00:21:54And a guy who was for his makeup, I was modeling his makeup and he put the makeup on my face
00:22:00and it was on a Mona Lisa's face.
00:22:03He had, the way he had to make it was so funny.
00:22:05He had it on Mona Lisa's face and then he tried to take that makeup from Mona Lisa's
00:22:13face.
00:22:14Does my face look like Mona Lisa?
00:22:15No.
00:22:16He takes the makeup from Mona Lisa's face and he tries to put it on my face.
00:22:23And I was like, no, it doesn't look right.
00:22:25You know, it just doesn't look right.
00:22:26He was saying everybody can wear this look.
00:22:29And I was like, no, not everybody can wear this look.
00:22:32You know, that look is for Mona Lisa.
00:22:35You have to do a makeup that looks good on me.
00:22:38And that was a problem being a black model is when they did a makeup for someone who
00:22:44was Caucasian, they would try to put that same makeup on you.
00:22:49And it just, you know, you know, just, I just have different features that just didn't look
00:22:54right.
00:22:55And so I was like, oh, please just change it a little bit or whatever.
00:22:57And he would not do it.
00:22:59So I mean, I guess I got a reputation for being kind of difficult, but I was like, it
00:23:04looks, it doesn't look right.
00:23:05You know, it doesn't fit my face.
00:23:07But I guess I'm supposed to be professional and say, okay, put it on.
00:23:10If it looks ugly, I'm the model, I'll just make it look beautiful.
00:23:14But I felt also being a model, you have to feel comfortable in the clothes.
00:23:18And this is what I loved about Karl Lagerfer.
00:23:20I never did a fitting for him.
00:23:23And he had several dresses and I would just, if I didn't like one dress, and I said, I
00:23:28don't feel comfortable in that dress, he would say, well, pick what you want.
00:23:31They all fit you.
00:23:32For some reason, I don't know how that worked, but they all fit.
00:23:35So whatever dress I picked that I liked fit me and you feel comfortable.
00:23:41I think when you wear something that you feel comfortable in and you go out on the runway
00:23:49and you're in front of thousands of people, you want to feel, you know, like this dress
00:23:56fits me and it makes, it enhances me.
00:24:03But sometimes as a model, you can work for a client and the dress does not enhance you.
00:24:09You have to enhance the dress.
00:24:11You have to sell the dress.
00:24:14And I mean, not everything looks good on everybody, but you have to make it and you have to work
00:24:23it.
00:24:24And photographs, you can get away with it, you know, because you can pin here, tuck here,
00:24:28do whatever.
00:24:29But on the runway, when it's live, that dress better be the right dress for you because
00:24:34people can see it, even no matter how well you model it, you know, people can see right
00:24:40away, oh, that dress is not right for her.
00:24:44She shouldn't have had that dress on, you know, maybe some other model should have had
00:24:47it on.
00:24:48And, you know, that has a great bearing on whether the buyer is going to buy it or not,
00:24:53depending on how good it looks on the model.
00:24:57But one of my other things was when I went to London, London was pretty good.
00:25:03London was really good.
00:25:05And I stayed with a friend.
00:25:09So that was pretty cool.
00:25:10And we still went out every night.
00:25:11I went to the club tramps and we used to dance.
00:25:14And I still had to, you know, keep myself thin.
00:25:20And I did a show in London.
00:25:25And what they did to me is they dyed my hair silver, silver.
00:25:32So I looked like an old woman, like silver gray hair, but it was silver and they sprayed.
00:25:40And the show was fabulous.
00:25:41It was in a big auditorium.
00:25:46A lot of important people were there, but nobody recognized me.
00:25:52Another shoot I did in London was I did the Sunday London Times.
00:25:58And I don't have that picture because, and this is, I did this shoot with Josie.
00:26:02Josie happened to be in London also.
00:26:06And like I said, she was the only other black model, but she wasn't an African American
00:26:10model.
00:26:12And we had to do this shoot in 32 degrees weather on the beach in London in a bikini.
00:26:23And I was freezing.
00:26:24I mean freezing.
00:26:25I just, I'm very sensitive to cold.
00:26:28And I know, you know, I've seen the models, you know, they have to, you have to be on
00:26:32the top of a roof and you have to be, and it's about 20, 19 degrees and you have to
00:26:40be posing and pretend you're warm.
00:26:43Well I couldn't.
00:26:47And the fact that I couldn't, you saw it on my face, and they put me on the cover of
00:26:52the Sunday London Times anyway, you know.
00:26:58So that goes to show you, they did the shoot, they didn't care, put it all in there.
00:27:06But it was an interesting experience.
00:27:07I was sick for like six months afterward, but I was thankful, you know, I was really
00:27:13thankful about it.
00:27:15And then when I did get to London, I did meet another black model, but she was from Africa.
00:27:23And she lived in London.
00:27:25And she would model now and then.
00:27:28She was very nice.
00:27:31So on to Italy, Milan.
00:27:36First I went to Rome.
00:27:37I went to Rome and I did a shoot in Rome, which was fabulous.
00:27:40I loved it.
00:27:41I ate so much.
00:27:42The food was so great, oh my God.
00:27:48In Rome I gained 50 pounds.
00:27:51When I went back to New York, Wilhelmina sent me on an audition.
00:27:58And the client called her and told her, why are you sending this girl to me?
00:28:06She cannot fit the dress.
00:28:08Wilhelmina calls me in the office and says, oh, you're too fat.
00:28:14I said, what do you mean I'm too fat?
00:28:17So I sent you to the client.
00:28:19The client called me and told me that you are too fat and you couldn't fit the dress.
00:28:26I said, oh, I can wear the same dress as so-and-so.
00:28:28She said, that was so-and-so's dress.
00:28:31So now you've got to go on a diet.
00:28:33So they did have insensitives to make you lose weight, you know, to just stop you from
00:28:37working because if you couldn't lose weight, you just didn't work.
00:28:45So if you stop you from working, you don't have any money, then you don't have any money
00:28:48to buy any food, so then you lose weight.
00:28:50Either way, you know, they win.
00:28:54But anyway, I had a glorious time in Rome.
00:28:57I ate myself and enjoyed myself tremendously.
00:29:01Then I went on to Milan.
00:29:03Milan, I did a lot of shows, a lot of fashion shows in Milan, Italian Vogue, L'Italiana.
00:29:11I did a whole issue of that, other magazines.
00:29:17I can't recall.
00:29:18There's so many, you know.
00:29:21Then from there, I went to Switzerland.
00:29:23I did a catalog in Switzerland.
00:29:26I went there a couple of times.
00:29:27I loved Zurich.
00:29:28It was nice, crisp.
00:29:29The chocolate was fabulous.
00:29:32The cows, the Swiss cow is amazing.
00:29:35I mean, he's like an elephant.
00:29:37And the one that the steaks taste, that's the best steak I've tasted.
00:29:41I haven't tasted a steak like that.
00:29:46That was the best I've ever had.
00:29:48And I think it was like $10 in Swiss francs, American dollars, but it was just so delicious.
00:29:54I don't know.
00:29:55Those cows are like, wow.
00:29:58I had never seen one until I came to Beverly Hills and they were giving a show and they
00:30:03had a cow that looked like an elephant in the street on Rodeo Drive, and I was like,
00:30:09what is that?
00:30:10They said, that's a Swiss cow.
00:30:11I said, that's a Swiss cow?
00:30:12My God, I'd never seen a Swiss cow.
00:30:16Anyway, on to Spain.
00:30:22Spain was fabulous.
00:30:23It was romantic.
00:30:24It was beautiful.
00:30:25Too bad I didn't have somebody to be there.
00:30:28Barcelona was great, to model in that and do the shows.
00:30:32And there again, I didn't see any black models.
00:30:37Then I come back to America, but before that, I'm going all over Europe.
00:30:45I'm living out of a suitcase.
00:30:47I'm in every magazine in Paris, practically.
00:30:49I'm in Vogue, I'm in Bazaar, I'm in Oui.
00:30:54I'm doing all the shows, I'm working with all the top designers, I'm going to the best
00:30:58parties every night, I'm eating the best, I'm drinking the best, I'm associating with
00:31:02some of the finest people in the world.
00:31:07So then I come back to America.
00:31:11Now we have all these black models coming in now, because affirmative action has totally
00:31:17kicked in.
00:31:19There are like eight, nine black models on the runway, when before you only saw one.
00:31:24And we got along pretty okay.
00:31:28Everything was great.
00:31:29We all went to parties, we all worked together.
00:31:33So then I went back to Europe again, they started coming over.
00:31:37But I had already established myself and I was already there.
00:31:41But I must say the French treated me very well, really wasn't snobbish to me.
00:31:46They rolled a red carpet out to me, they were very warm to me.
00:31:50And then I went back with the Palace Versailles.
00:31:54And I danced with Liza Minnelli.
00:31:57And this was supposed to be a fight with the French, but we were fighting in high heels.
00:32:02And to me, it was a great experience, because I loved it.
00:32:13When we walked that runway, we just took the house down, brought the house down.
00:32:18I loved it.
00:32:20I didn't have a problem with the French, because I had been there already.
00:32:23Now I don't know what they were saying about the French being this and about the French
00:32:26being that, but I didn't have a problem with them, because I had been to France before
00:32:33them.
00:32:34Everybody else seemed to have a problem with the French.
00:32:36But I thought it was fabulous, I was treated well.
00:32:40We were in the Palace Versailles, and it was fabulous.
00:32:47So we're going to take a break right now, and I'll come back and tell you some more.
00:32:53Don't go away, I'll be right back.
00:33:09I will love you, I will love you long.
00:33:17I will love you, I will love you strong.
00:33:23I just wanted to pour myself a glass of Rothschild's wine.
00:33:28I saw it.
00:33:29I mean, I'm in California, and I saw it, and I said, oh, I'm going to try this bottle.
00:33:34Because I knew him when I was in Paris.
00:33:35They used to be at the club set all the time, and he would be dancing.
00:33:40This is his great, great, great, great grandson, but they're still one of the wealthiest families
00:33:46in Europe.
00:33:47And I never drank his wine, you know.
00:33:50So I'm having a taste now.
00:33:54Anyway, getting back to Paris, Josephine Baker, the Palace Versailles.
00:33:59Josephine Baker was starring in the show also.
00:34:02And I'll tell you what I liked about the Palace Versailles.
00:34:04I liked the fact that it was a show.
00:34:08It was like a Broadway show.
00:34:10And I had been taking dance lessons with Bob Fosse, Phil Black, who was like a protege
00:34:19of Bob Fosse, and Cabaret had just come out, and Anne Rankin, and Bob Fosse was a big choreographer
00:34:29at the time.
00:34:30Anyway, I got a chance to do Palace Versailles.
00:34:36When they asked me to go, I said yes.
00:34:39But I had no idea that there was a feud between the French designer and the American designer.
00:34:47I had no idea that, you know, they were having this feud going on.
00:34:52So it was like, I just went because, oh, it's going to be a show, Liza, we all flew on a
00:34:58plane together, she's going to be doing the choreographing of the dance steps, her and
00:35:03Kay Thompson, and I was like, wow, this is my chance to not only be a model and just
00:35:11model the clothes, but this is my chance to actually do dance steps, you know, as a team.
00:35:21Because when you model, you work as one, you really don't work as a team, you have everybody
00:35:26else working as a team to make you comfortable.
00:35:32But you as a model, you are actually on your own, you're number one.
00:35:38So and then I wanted to get into acting also, so I said okay, this would be great if I go,
00:35:44but no one told me that this was this big, you know, political thing going on.
00:35:49I mean, you know, they didn't tell me that, oh, we're going over there to show the French
00:35:55that we're American designers just like the French, and we can do couture, and you know,
00:36:02I didn't know what was going on back and forth.
00:36:05I remember Anne Klein, I remember her crying, you know, somebody upset her really, really
00:36:12bad, but I didn't know who it was.
00:36:15I didn't know if it was the American designers that were with us, or was it the French, or
00:36:21was, you know, or was it someone who wasn't in the show?
00:36:27I didn't know, and I felt really bad for her because she was a really sweet lady.
00:36:31But getting on to the dance steps, I was so happy to do the dance steps because it meant,
00:36:37oh, I can be in a Broadway show, I can be in a musical, I can just not be a model walking
00:36:44down the runway and not saying anything.
00:36:50So we do the steps, and we do something, I mean, we, you know, we do it with the outfits.
00:36:56Each segment, I think we had several outfits.
00:36:58I know I did Anne Klein, I did Ralph Lauren, I did Stephen Burroughs, I know I did Halston,
00:37:04and each designer segment had a whole dance step, a story, singing and dancing.
00:37:16And it was just fabulous.
00:37:18It was really fabulous.
00:37:21And Josephine Baker, the French had her.
00:37:22And I had said, you know, she was the closest thing to a black model.
00:37:26She was my complexion.
00:37:29She was like, oh my God, she was the toast of the town.
00:37:32And she had left America to go to Europe because America was so discriminating towards her.
00:37:38And you know, she was like a Las Vegas showgirl, but she couldn't play in Las Vegas because
00:37:43of, you know, she was a woman of color.
00:37:45So in France, she could be who she wanted to be.
00:37:50And that was the thing about Paris.
00:37:52Paris was something like Hollywood.
00:37:55You know, you could be as big as you want to be and be what you want to be, and the
00:37:59French let you.
00:38:00They love entertainment.
00:38:02And she looked fabulous.
00:38:05Anyway, in between the show, no, this was during rehearsal.
00:38:10We went to lunch together.
00:38:12This was like one of the greatest things that happened to me.
00:38:16It was to have lunch with her.
00:38:18So we go to this French restaurant, and when we walk in, there are six policemen, three
00:38:27on one side, three on the other side.
00:38:30And they're like, Mademoiselle Josephine Baker.
00:38:33And they almost like take their coat off, like walk on my coat.
00:38:37You know, you're a queen.
00:38:39She was treated like a queen there.
00:38:41She had a castle.
00:38:43I mean, I guess her dream for that, she could have never had that in America in her time.
00:38:51But the respect that they gave her, and, I mean, movie stars don't get treated like that
00:38:57here.
00:38:58You know, they have to pay for, they have to pay for like bodyguards and whatnot, and
00:39:05she has cops willing to just, wow, when she walks in, just tip the hat, throw the coat
00:39:11on the floor, you know, walk on my coat.
00:39:14You gorgeous, gorgeous goddess, you.
00:39:17And so we had lunch together, and I found that she was very bitter about America and
00:39:27how they treated her.
00:39:30And those scars never went away, and I was surprised with all the success that she had,
00:39:35that the scars that she had from the 1920s and the 30s in America, she never forgot.
00:39:41She never forgot.
00:39:42And she kind of, it was kind of sad in a way because she was such a great talent, and I
00:39:49think that she would have been great in Las Vegas, she would have been great at the Cotton
00:39:53Club, you know.
00:39:54She would have been great, but you know, at the Cotton Club, I think they only had like
00:39:57light-skinned women, you know, dancing or white women.
00:40:00I don't know.
00:40:02I was born back then, but I did a movie called The Cotton Club.
00:40:06Anyway, that was a very interesting lunch.
00:40:10After that, I mean, she got over it.
00:40:14I mean, she got over it.
00:40:15She had furs and diamonds and a castle, and she was a countess, you know.
00:40:20She got over all of that, and she was like the belle of the ball of Paris, and all of
00:40:24Europe knew her, so, you know, who needs America?
00:40:31I do.
00:40:34But I was sort of like there, and they treated me, I mean, wonderful.
00:40:42And whatever war that was going on between the French and the American, it was like a
00:40:46war on high heels, well, we won.
00:40:49And I helped open up, I helped open up the door so that American designers could show
00:40:56their clothes in Europe.
00:40:58So, from that one show, and all of Europe was there, it really opened up the door for
00:41:07American designers.
00:41:11After that, I worked all the time, constantly.
00:41:16But by that time, other models started coming in, and they started working, and everybody
00:41:20wanted to stay with me, of course, you know, and they started working, and they started,
00:41:26Now it wasn't so much of a, how could I say, a novelty anymore.
00:41:32Because now you got the runways over there flooded with black models, and then Yves
00:41:38Salomon, that's all he used was black models.
00:41:40After a while, he didn't use it for a long time.
00:41:43He only used black models on the runway.
00:41:46And I'm glad that I started, you know, the trend.
00:41:48I'm very glad that I did.
00:41:50And I was the first one, and I was a pioneer, and I, you know, was a trailblazer, and I'm
00:41:56glad I did.
00:41:57But, being alone, in Europe, at 17, and when I went to Europe, I only had $17 in my pocket.
00:42:06I didn't have any money.
00:42:09And I just went and just said, and that's the kind of person I was, you know.
00:42:13I'd live for today and not think about tomorrow.
00:42:17And I thought life was quite interesting when you live like that, you know.
00:42:21Because you never know what tomorrow's going to bring.
00:42:24And you don't know who you're going to meet.
00:42:26And that's what's so great about modeling and traveling all over the world.
00:42:29You don't know who you're going to meet, who you're going to see.
00:42:31You don't know what the next day is going to bring.
00:42:34You know, nothing is set in stone.
00:42:37I mean, you just have to go with it.
00:42:40And for 10 years, I did.
00:42:43And after that, you know, I went into acting.
00:42:47And now I'm an actress.
00:42:50And I find acting similar to modeling in a way.
00:42:57But you kind of know what's going on a little bit.
00:43:02With modeling, you don't know what's going to happen.
00:43:04I guess when you become a big star, you don't know what's going to happen.
00:43:07Because a client from out of left field can call you and say,
00:43:10Hey, you know, hey, we got you a job in Timbuktu somewhere.
00:43:17And, you know, just jump up and pack your stuff and come on over.
00:43:20You know, we saw your movie.
00:43:22We like you.
00:43:23We hired you.
00:43:24I don't think it's that easy in Hollywood.
00:43:26But I think you have to audition.
00:43:28You really have to work really hard.
00:43:29But modeling is really hard because you really work on yourself.
00:43:32And it's very external.
00:43:36So, I'm going to take another break right now.
00:43:41And I will be back to talk about more of a black model in Paris.
00:44:06I will love you.
00:44:10I will love you long.
00:44:15I will love you.
00:44:18I will love you strong.
00:44:22I will love you.
00:44:25I will love you true.
00:44:29I will love you.
00:44:32I will love you.
00:44:38Welcome back to a black model in Paris.
00:44:42Where was I?
00:44:44I went to Paris with $17 in my pocket.
00:44:48Now, that wasn't because I didn't have any money.
00:44:51It's just that the money that I had was being held up.
00:44:56Because I had worked quite a bit in America.
00:44:59And it seemed like I didn't get paid as fast as everybody else did.
00:45:03So, when I did get paid, I would buy things and, you know, spend money.
00:45:08And I didn't worry about it, you know.
00:45:10The world was my oyster.
00:45:12So, I took a risk. I went.
00:45:14How I got the job was I worked with Antonio Lopez, who was Puerto Rican.
00:45:20He was a Puerto Rican illustrator.
00:45:22And he knew Karl Lagerfer.
00:45:25And he had suggested to Karl that I come over to Paris.
00:45:30Because it was something new.
00:45:32And he always, you know, wanted something new and original.
00:45:36And so, Karl paid for my plane ticket.
00:45:39It was a round-trip ticket.
00:45:42And when I got to Paris, they met me at the airport and everything.
00:45:45And they said to me, well, well Karl said to me,
00:45:48Well, I'm going to support you for two weeks.
00:45:51If you don't make it in two weeks, I'm going to send you back home.
00:45:56And I was like, wow, that's the fastest, you know.
00:46:01I mean, if you can't make it in two weeks, usually people give you six months.
00:46:04They give you a year.
00:46:05Two weeks?
00:46:08I did his show.
00:46:10And what was fabulous about Karl is I didn't have to have a fitting.
00:46:16Every dress that he had fit me.
00:46:20So if I didn't like one dress, he would say,
00:46:23You don't like that one. You don't feel comfortable in that.
00:46:25You can go ahead and wear something else.
00:46:29And I would pick whatever I liked and I would wear it.
00:46:32Because I always felt that a model should wear what she likes.
00:46:36I think she models it better.
00:46:39You feel more confident in something that you feel good in.
00:46:44As opposed to something that you don't.
00:46:47But from a professional standpoint, if the dress is ugly,
00:46:52And you're a gorgeous model, and they put this dress on you,
00:46:56You have to sell the dress.
00:46:59No matter what it looks like.
00:47:02But when you walk in a runway,
00:47:06They can tell whether or not the dress is for you.
00:47:11I mean, if the dress is not for you, and you're wearing it,
00:47:15The buyers and the photographers and the editors that are sitting in the audience
00:47:19Will look at that dress and say,
00:47:21Oh, you know what? That dress is not for her.
00:47:25She looks good, but the dress is not for her.
00:47:27It should have been put on somebody that it was for.
00:47:30I don't know how, you know, if the model wears it well and makes it her own.
00:47:36You know, you have to make the clothes your own.
00:47:40You have to make it and work it, you know, according to your body.
00:47:46That can be difficult at times.
00:47:50But if you know fashion, and you know how to wear clothes,
00:47:54And that's another thing too, you need to know how to wear clothes.
00:47:58Also, for you photographers, you need to know how to photograph clothes.
00:48:02And I guess photography is a lot more easier,
00:48:05Because if you have, I did a catalog shot,
00:48:08And the outfit was too big, so they put clothes pins in the back,
00:48:12And they pin it, and they make it look, you know, like it fits.
00:48:15And they have a steam iron to steam it and everything.
00:48:18So it fits, and it looks perfect.
00:48:21So a photograph you can work with a little bit.
00:48:25But runway, you can't.
00:48:28Anyway, I did call show.
00:48:32And I wound up staying in Paris for six months.
00:48:39I was the talk of the town. The talk of the town, actually.
00:48:43We went out to restaurants every night.
00:48:47And at that time, I wore nothing but Stephen Burroughs clothes,
00:48:50Because I couldn't afford Karl Lagerfeld's clothes.
00:48:53And he was generous. He was very generous.
00:48:57He took me out to dinner every night. He took me to the best places in Paris.
00:49:01I worked for him quite a bit. He was very generous.
00:49:06We shot videos in his home. He was very nice to me.
00:49:11And I am very grateful for that.
00:49:16And my career launched from that.
00:49:20So if you get a designer that likes you,
00:49:23And that wants to hang out with you and be with you, do it.
00:49:28Because you learn a lot. And I learned a lot.
00:49:32I learned a lot about French culture.
00:49:35I learned a lot about the restaurants.
00:49:38Another thing, too, I didn't eat French food.
00:49:41I would eat spaghetti.
00:49:44Or something simple. Because I couldn't understand the menu.
00:49:47And I was on a diet.
00:49:50And French food is very good, but it's very fattening.
00:49:53So a lot of the French food I could not eat.
00:49:56Well, I did not eat, because I was kind of skeptical.
00:49:59If I don't know what it is, and I can't understand the menu,
00:50:03I'm not going to eat it.
00:50:06But that was one of the benefits that I didn't get to enjoy,
00:50:11was the good French food.
00:50:14Because when you're a model, you have to watch your weight.
00:50:17And you can't just eat anything you want.
00:50:23You have to have a great body.
00:50:26And you have to stay a certain size.
00:50:29Now, mind you, don't starve yourself.
00:50:32Don't get skin and bones.
00:50:35Because that has happened to me, too.
00:50:38I've gotten skin and bones, and then I've gotten overweight.
00:50:41You just have to make sure that you stay in the middle.
00:50:44I was a size 8 at the time I was modeling.
00:50:48But usually they're like 2, 4, 5, something like that.
00:50:57If you can manage it, manage it.
00:51:00What I do is eat lettuce and tomatoes,
00:51:04and put lemon on everything.
00:51:06I call it an elimination diet.
00:51:09Which I got out of, oh my God, I can't think of the book,
00:51:12Back to Eden, it's a book.
00:51:15And they had it on, it was an elimination diet.
00:51:17And you put lemon juice on everything.
00:51:21You eat lettuce, tomatoes, raw cabbage.
00:51:26Whatever you eat, you put lemon juice on it.
00:51:30And that seems to eliminate the fat out of the system.
00:51:34I don't know, they have this other diet now,
00:51:36where they have the lemon juice, and they have the cayenne pepper,
00:51:41and they have the syrup, and that's one of these crash diets.
00:51:47That they take for like two or three days,
00:51:49and get themselves super, super thin, or just thin.
00:51:53But that's what I do.
00:51:55The elimination diet seems to work for me, because I'm eating.
00:51:59And I'm eating, you know, you can eat three meals a day,
00:52:04but eat all salads, you know, no starches, no pasta, no carbs.
00:52:12Eat apples, drink plenty of water, and you'll lose it.
00:52:19And you've got to watch it, though.
00:52:21You're going to be craving cookies, and potato chips,
00:52:24and all these chocolates, and donuts, and you will crave.
00:52:30You know, you just have to fight it.
00:52:32I mean, if you could just take a little piece of it, you know,
00:52:35you'd be okay, but if you take the whole thing,
00:52:37then it's going to be like, okay.
00:52:40You lost control.
00:52:42Anyway, getting back to Paris.
00:52:45So I had to stay thin.
00:52:48And I would walk the catwalk, and I was the toast of the town.
00:52:52I worked for everybody who was anybody.
00:52:54And at that time, there wasn't another black, a dark-skinned model.
00:52:58I mean, there were Africans in Paris, but they weren't on the runway.
00:53:02They were not African-American.
00:53:06So this was a big thing. This was a breakthrough.
00:53:09And this is why I say if I could break through the industry
00:53:14when there wasn't an industry for me, you could do it, too.
00:53:21As a photographer, as a fashion model, as a designer, you could do it, too.
00:53:27You just have to have your package together.
00:53:34And be confident, especially as a model.
00:53:38You have to be confident in your body.
00:53:40You have to have a great body, and you have to be confident
00:53:43because you're going to be surrounded by beautiful, gorgeous, naked women
00:53:48all the time when you do fashion shows.
00:53:51And you can't feel, you know, you can't have a lack of confidence.
00:53:56You can't feel, oh, she's prettier than me.
00:53:59Oh, because there's always going to be somebody prettier than you.
00:54:01There's always going to be somebody who has better skin,
00:54:04who has better hair, who has better legs, who has better buttocks, better bust.
00:54:10You have to be confident with your package.
00:54:13And that is the key. And positive.
00:54:17And roll off, you know, and people are going to reject you.
00:54:21People are going to tell you, no, you're not my type, you're not my look.
00:54:25Just let it roll off your back.
00:54:28Don't even, I mean, if it's something constructive,
00:54:32you need to lose weight, or you need to get your skin fixed because your skin is bad,
00:54:37or you need to get your teeth done because your teeth are crooked.
00:54:41You know, take that.
00:54:43But if it's just something where, oh, you know, someone's always better than you,
00:54:46oh, blah, blah, blah, and all the she, she, shaw, shaw, she, she,
00:54:49you know, and shilly-shally stuff, just ignore it.
00:54:52Oh, you're not my type, I can't hire you.
00:54:55You know what? Too bad.
00:54:58When you become a success, they all want to hire you.
00:55:00They're all going to want to say, oh, my God, now you know I'm ready for your look.
00:55:07So, I ate spaghetti.
00:55:10I would go to the club set at night.
00:55:13And the guy who owned the club set was a nightclub.
00:55:16He used to let me have free dinners, and I would eat food.
00:55:20And I would eat spaghetti, but I would do a small portion of it,
00:55:23so it wouldn't be too much.
00:55:27And then I would dance the night away.
00:55:32I would dance until the wee hours of the morning, and then get up and go to work.
00:55:37So I burned the candles at both ends.
00:55:40I had so much energy.
00:55:42But I would dance off of James Brown. I loved James Brown.
00:55:45So I wasn't so, like, alienated when I was there,
00:55:48because I had my James Brown music at the clubs.
00:55:51You know, I had my spaghetti, my little comfort food.
00:55:55And then, you know, I was very popular.
00:55:58So it wasn't so hard for me personally.
00:56:03Professionally, I had to be on it, you know, because I was a leader.
00:56:10I was setting the trend for so many to follow behind.
00:56:15And believe me, quite a few black models started coming to Paris after me.
00:56:22Yves Saint Laurent started using only black models.
00:56:25That's all he would use in his show.
00:56:28And it seemed to work.
00:56:32So we're going to take a break right now,
00:56:35and we'll be back with a black model in Paris.
00:56:40Until the end of time
00:57:10I Will Love You
00:57:16I will love you
00:57:19I will love you long
00:57:23I will love you
00:57:26I will love you strong
00:57:28Welcome back to a black model in Paris.
00:57:31Well, I left off at Japan, I think.
00:57:35I went to Japan, and I worked for a weekend.
00:57:39And I was like, there were no blacks there either.
00:57:42Not one.
00:57:44No whites did I see, but, you know, usually whites usually go.
00:57:48But I went, and I was modeling some pearls.
00:57:53Miki Motos, I think.
00:57:56And that was a good shoot.
00:57:58The funny thing about that shoot, there was a Japanese lady there.
00:58:01She was trying to get me to sign with her and sign with her.
00:58:05At the time, I was at Wilhelmina.
00:58:08And I couldn't do it.
00:58:11But all went well there.
00:58:13Getting back to Paris.
00:58:16The Palace Versailles.
00:58:18Well, this job was offered to me.
00:58:20I didn't know it was a fight in high heels.
00:58:23I thought I was just going on a trip to Paris
00:58:27to work for several American designers.
00:58:30We were going to do a show at the Palace Versailles
00:58:35to help raise money, I think, to refurnish it.
00:58:39But I got the chance to dance with Liza Minnelli,
00:58:42which I thought was really great.
00:58:44Because I thought, all my friends are on Broadway.
00:58:48I'm not on Broadway. I'm a model.
00:58:50And this was a chance that it wasn't just modeling.
00:58:53It was steps, dance steps.
00:58:57There were segments.
00:59:00And Liza choreographed the dance steps, her and Kay Thompson.
00:59:03And it was almost like a show.
00:59:06It was something I had never done before with the group.
00:59:10And we did Anne Klein.
00:59:12We did Stephen Burroughs, Halston, Oscar de la Rente.
00:59:17Who else did we do?
00:59:19I can't think of another designer that we did.
00:59:22But I think those were the designers that...
00:59:24Ralph Lauren. Yeah.
00:59:26Those were the designers that went.
00:59:28And what they were trying to do
00:59:31was to prove to the French
00:59:34that American designers weren't ready to wear.
00:59:38They could do couture.
00:59:40Because the French, from what I heard,
00:59:43didn't think American designers could do couture.
00:59:46And they were the only ones that could do couture.
00:59:48But I was treated very well.
00:59:50And they had Josephine Baker.
00:59:52She was somebody that was on their side of the show.
00:59:55She wasn't in the American part.
00:59:59She danced on the stage.
01:00:03She was fabulous.
01:00:05After we went to have lunch...
01:00:07This was during rehearsal.
01:00:09We went to have lunch.
01:00:11And she was treated so much like a queen.
01:00:13My God.
01:00:14The police, you know...
01:00:16Mademoiselle Josephine Baker.
01:00:17She lived in a castle.
01:00:19She was like dark-skinned, like my complexion almost.
01:00:23But she was a showgirl.
01:00:24She wasn't a model.
01:00:26She basically was the first black showgirl in Paris.
01:00:32And she was treated like the cream of the crop.
01:00:35I mean, she was queen of Paris.
01:00:37What more could you want?
01:00:38Because America at the time was sort of racist.
01:00:41Back in the 1920s and 30s, when she first started out,
01:00:44I think she wasn't light-skinned enough.
01:00:47And at the Cotton Club and all the Sugar Hill Club
01:00:51and all these clubs that they had up in Harlem,
01:00:55that they had dancers and whatnot.
01:00:57But this show was something like it.
01:00:59Only thing, we did an Anne Klein segment.
01:01:02We did the Dance Steps when we came out.
01:01:04We did a Stephen Burrell segment.
01:01:06And we walked that runway like it wasn't walked,
01:01:08like it has never been walked before.
01:01:10We brought the house down.
01:01:12And it was a big, significant job for me.
01:01:17Because that was in 1973.
01:01:21Just this year, 2011,
01:01:24I was honored by the mayor of New York, Mayor Bloomberg.
01:01:29And the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art gave a big luncheon.
01:01:37And they honored me and the other girls who participated in the show.
01:01:42But that was sort of like, in their history,
01:01:46that was the first time a group of black girls went to Paris.
01:01:49But I was there before. I was there in 72.
01:01:52So I was sort of used to the French.
01:01:57And I was treated very nice.
01:01:59We had parties, we had dinners.
01:02:02And it was just a fantastic thing to do.
01:02:04And it was a chance to get to work as an actress,
01:02:07dancing, singing.
01:02:10Because they had music, and we had to sing to the music,
01:02:12do the Dance Steps, and not just model the clothes.
01:02:17And we had to do five segments.
01:02:19And I thought that that was something that
01:02:23introduced me to modern jazz
01:02:26and a way to be more of a showwoman
01:02:33than just a model.
01:02:36So that was great.
01:02:38Now, from what I understand,
01:02:40some of the designers had some problems with the French designers.
01:02:44There was a little competition there.
01:02:46But I didn't see any of that.
01:02:48My experience was totally positive.
01:02:51And after that...
01:02:54Well, before that, they were using black models on runways.
01:02:57But I think after that,
01:02:59they really started using black models on runways.
01:03:02So that opened the door.
01:03:06That was the launch pad
01:03:08for American designers being introduced to Paris in Europe.
01:03:14And it took off like a flash.
01:03:17And that was because me as a model
01:03:20and the rest of the models did our job so well.
01:03:24And we worked those clothes, and we worked that runway
01:03:27until it just was a fantastic show.
01:03:30And from what I understand, there were other things happening
01:03:32that weren't good,
01:03:35as the background, you know, that broke,
01:03:38or they couldn't have it, so we couldn't use any background,
01:03:41so it made it look much more modern than it would have.
01:03:46And...
01:03:48But, I mean, it was just a delight.
01:03:51My other experiences in Paris was very good.
01:03:56I just worked and worked and worked.
01:03:58And...
01:04:00I'm going to tell you
01:04:02what you guys need
01:04:05to be in the fashion industry.
01:04:08Because I think that's very important,
01:04:10to be able to break in
01:04:13and to make a living at it.
01:04:16You know, I did it for 10 years.
01:04:18I lived out of a suitcase, of course.
01:04:19That was my only compromise.
01:04:21But...
01:04:23But it was a wonderful life.
01:04:25And you get to go, and you get to travel,
01:04:27and you get to meet people,
01:04:28and you go to nice parties,
01:04:30and there's always something happening with fashion.
01:04:33It's exciting, you know.
01:04:36And, as a model, you really don't...
01:04:39What you need...
01:04:42Well, you need good pictures.
01:04:44That's number one.
01:04:45But the first, what you really need,
01:04:47you need good skin, good teeth, good hair.
01:04:50Because, like I said, our hair was a problem,
01:04:52so I would keep mine short, and I would wear pieces,
01:04:55but if you have good hair,
01:04:58they're going to be combing the hair
01:05:00and picking in the hair.
01:05:02And for years, my hair was very thin in the back,
01:05:06where I got so many different hairdressers
01:05:09who were on my hair,
01:05:11until it was just a mess after a while.
01:05:14And sprays, and hot curlers, and hot combs.
01:05:17But you need good hair to start with.
01:05:20You need good skin.
01:05:22You need a great body.
01:05:25A body that the clothes can just fit on.
01:05:29Now, either you can be a body,
01:05:32where the dress hangs on you.
01:05:36It hangs on the body,
01:05:38and you are modeling the dress.
01:05:43Or, you can have a body
01:05:46where the dress models you.
01:05:50So, I had mentioned before, earlier,
01:05:53that sometimes you get dresses
01:05:56that don't look good,
01:05:58but you have to work with it.
01:06:01And make sure that you make it work.
01:06:06You sell that dress.
01:06:08It's much easier in print than it is on the runway.
01:06:11I said this before.
01:06:13But, those are the things that you need.
01:06:15And you need to keep your weight down.
01:06:17So, that's another thing.
01:06:19And you need to be original.
01:06:21You need to have a personality
01:06:23that is very strong.
01:06:26And some girls are very quiet.
01:06:28But they have a strong presence.
01:06:30They don't talk a lot.
01:06:31They're not friendly.
01:06:32They're not open.
01:06:33They're friendly, but they're not open,
01:06:35and outgoing, and bubbly.
01:06:37They don't have a strong personality.
01:06:39And they are very successful as models also.
01:06:41Because they're very professional.
01:06:43You need to be on time.
01:06:45Because time is money.
01:06:47And they get very upset when you're not on time.
01:06:54You need to be able to get along with everybody.
01:06:59Just get along, even if you...
01:07:02Sometimes it gets kind of competitive.
01:07:05With a bunch of girls, it gets very competitive.
01:07:08And you need to be able to hold your own.
01:07:11And you need to be very secure with yourself.
01:07:14Also, you need to be someone who's a go-getter.
01:07:17You should be someone who takes the initiative.
01:07:22And not be afraid of rejection.
01:07:24Because, like I said earlier,
01:07:26and I'm not going to repeat it again,
01:07:28that's a part of the business.
01:07:30And a lot of people are not going to hire you
01:07:35in the beginning.
01:07:37And sometimes you have to build up that clientele.
01:07:42And build that portfolio up.
01:07:44Now, one thing I was kind of lazy with
01:07:48was taking new pictures.
01:07:50And you have to constantly take new pictures.
01:07:52Once I started working,
01:07:54I was just using the tear sheets from the magazines,
01:07:57which you'll see later on,
01:07:59in my portfolio.
01:08:02But I needed to, as time went on,
01:08:06I needed to take new pictures.
01:08:08I needed to advance my look.
01:08:10And I just didn't really do that.
01:08:13I just worked with what I had.
01:08:16Traveled and traveled and traveled and traveled.
01:08:18So you need to be able to do that.
01:08:21And take different pictures.
01:08:23And just be the best that you can.
01:08:26Now it's all color.
01:08:27Back then it was black and white.
01:08:29So color, we see everything.
01:08:31Everything.
01:08:33HD, we see everything.
01:08:35So you have to make sure that your body's perfect.
01:08:38No cellulite.
01:08:42Your legs.
01:08:43I mean, my leg didn't always have great legs.
01:08:45But I mean, they went with my body.
01:08:49You know?
01:08:50I mean, I didn't have a big body and skinny legs.
01:08:52I had skinny legs, skinny body.
01:08:54But legs are pretty nice to have.
01:08:56I always had nice hands.
01:08:58Hands are pretty nice.
01:08:59Because you can be a hand model.
01:09:01So those are the parts.
01:09:03You know, if you have a nice mouth,
01:09:05you can be a lip model.
01:09:07You can do lipsticks and, you know,
01:09:10toothpaste ads and stuff like that.
01:09:13Anything that has anything to do with the mouth and a smile.
01:09:17So that's another good thing that I want to tell you guys.
01:09:22And we're talking about before,
01:09:26is there a lot of drugs,
01:09:28a lot of stuff in the business that, you know,
01:09:30is decadent in the business.
01:09:32Well, in every business there's a decadent side.
01:09:35You know, in a business such as that,
01:09:37in the movie business, the singing business,
01:09:39the fashion industry,
01:09:41there's always a decadent, dark side.
01:09:44But as an individual,
01:09:47you have to make the choice on which road you want to take.
01:09:53Because there's so much happening
01:09:57and you have to really stay focused.
01:09:59Now more than ever.
01:10:01Because there's so much competition in it.
01:10:04And, you know, so many girls coming up.
01:10:06You have to be healthy, energetic,
01:10:11and just be on it.
01:10:13You know, get your sleep.
01:10:16And I never got my sleep.
01:10:18I was always burning the candle at both ends.
01:10:21But it didn't look bad on me.
01:10:24You know, I just had all this excess energy.
01:10:27So I used that to my advantage.
01:10:33And like I said,
01:10:35some people are going to tell you no.
01:10:37And some people are going to tell you yes.
01:10:39And let me see if I'm missing anything.
01:10:41Something else that you need to have
01:10:43in order to be successful in the fashion business.
01:10:48Versatility. That's another thing.
01:10:50And now some girls can only do certain things.
01:10:52But now they want girls to be able to do commercials.
01:10:55Like I said, that wasn't for me.
01:10:57But be able to do commercials.
01:11:00Be able to do print.
01:11:02Be able to do catalog.
01:11:04High fashion. Ready to wear.
01:11:06Swimwear. I've done swimwear.
01:11:08I've done lingerie.
01:11:10I did high fashion. I did ready to wear.
01:11:12High fashion looked better on me than ready to wear.
01:11:19I mean, I was just so much into high fashion.
01:11:21Wearing high fashion all the time.
01:11:23I never had any really simple day clothes.
01:11:25That was just me.
01:11:28And make sure that you seek out good photographers.
01:11:33Like I said, go to the agencies and find out
01:11:36which photographers are testing.
01:11:38Do not pay anyone $1,000 for a portfolio.
01:11:42If anybody tells you that you need to do that,
01:11:45that is a rip off.
01:11:49Because I have so many people
01:11:51that are ripping people off in this business.
01:11:54It's become, oh my God.
01:11:56I mean, it's just awful.
01:11:58And telling them that they're going to be a model.
01:12:00They can be this. They can be that.
01:12:02You have to pay a certain amount of money.
01:12:04No. No, no, no, no, no.
01:12:06Your body is your capital.
01:12:09Your whole look is your capital.
01:12:13And that's what you bank on.
01:12:15And like I said, now,
01:12:18you may not even need film now
01:12:20because they have the HD camera.
01:12:22And they just put it on a disc.
01:12:24And you just go and get it blown out.
01:12:27I mean, print it out.
01:12:29And you put it in your portfolio.
01:12:31So, find that.
01:12:33Also, now in fashion,
01:12:36things are very creative.
01:12:39Because from what I understand,
01:12:41photographers have all this equipment.
01:12:44And for fashion, they have all this equipment
01:12:46because it has to be creative.
01:12:47It has to be this. It has to be that.
01:12:49When then, we just did a simple picture.
01:12:52So, I don't know if I would advise you guys
01:12:55to be too creative.
01:12:57I mean, if you can, you can.
01:12:59But if you can take just a simple picture
01:13:01showing your beauty,
01:13:03your body, the clothes.
01:13:06You know, remember, it's to sell the clothes.
01:13:09If you're doing a bathing suit,
01:13:11it's to sell the bathing suit.
01:13:13Whatever you're modeling.
01:13:16If you're modeling hairs,
01:13:18products, or whatever, your hair.
01:13:20I guess with hair, you can do something really creative.
01:13:23And maybe you can go to some hairdressers
01:13:25and say, oh, I'm doing a test shot.
01:13:27And I want to do a nice hair shot.
01:13:29Can you do my hair?
01:13:31And I can give you a picture.
01:13:33And they may do it on comp.
01:13:36And do something really fabulous and avant-garde.
01:13:40And you got a nice shot there.
01:13:43But you should have every range.
01:13:46So when you go to the agency,
01:13:48they can see that you can do several things.
01:13:51And you're versatile in your look.
01:13:53And your modeling.
01:13:55But like I said, don't get too creative or way out.
01:13:58Unless you have an art director
01:14:01that wants to work with you also.
01:14:03And they will, okay, we have this idea.
01:14:05We want this. We want that.
01:14:07We want you coming out of a waterfall.
01:14:09Or I have some idea.
01:14:11I want you coming out of a guy.
01:14:14A model. Not a model.
01:14:19I wore Calvin Klein.
01:14:21And this is what I want to say.
01:14:23I wore Calvin Klein.
01:14:25And a photographer wanted me to do a shoot
01:14:29coming out of a seashell.
01:14:32He had this idea.
01:14:34And so I borrowed the Calvin Klein bathing suit.
01:14:37And I put it on.
01:14:39And I'm standing there with my hands up like that.
01:14:41And I'm coming out of this seashell.
01:14:43And I'm holding on to this pole.
01:14:45And the seashell is really big.
01:14:47And you see me.
01:14:49And it's a beautiful black and white photograph.
01:14:51I will probably put that on here too
01:14:53so you guys can see that.
01:14:55But that was sort of creative.
01:14:57Something like that.
01:14:59Or you coming out of a sink or something.
01:15:04Or a TV set.
01:15:06Or a book.
01:15:08So you open a book and here you are.
01:15:10You can do that.
01:15:12And as photographers
01:15:14you need to do a lot of test shots too.
01:15:17You need to do a lot.
01:15:19Photographers who want to break into this business.
01:15:21And then after you do so many shots
01:15:24and you walk around and you try to get a rep
01:15:27to take your photographs to magazines
01:15:31to see if they will hire you.
01:15:33So photography.
01:15:35But if you hang out at the shows
01:15:37and you start taking pictures of the fashion shows
01:15:39and you keep these slides
01:15:41that's a good way of getting shots.
01:15:46If you're in New York and you can go on 7th Avenue
01:15:50or you can go down to the fashion market
01:15:52and you see a runway show
01:15:54and you can ask the designer
01:15:55can you come in and take pictures
01:15:57that's a good way of getting film
01:16:00without getting a model together
01:16:03getting the clothes, getting the hair together
01:16:05putting everything together yourself.
01:16:07It's already done.
01:16:08And you can use the pictures
01:16:10with their consent
01:16:12in your portfolio.
01:16:14And they may want some shots
01:16:15and you keep some shots.
01:16:16So that's a practical way of doing that.
01:16:19For designers
01:16:21and I work with many designers
01:16:23and I also used to sew clothes
01:16:25and make my own clothes when I didn't have money.
01:16:28Designers, you have to do
01:16:31original designs.
01:16:36And they have to look original.
01:16:40Don't knock off anybody.
01:16:42Because if you knock off someone
01:16:44like ABS does
01:16:46I knock off the couture designers
01:16:49they knock off the couture designers
01:16:51and they give it to you at a cheaper price.
01:16:54But I wouldn't advise you guys out there to do that.
01:16:57I would advise you guys to do something original.
01:17:00And if you have a model
01:17:03you can get a photographer to shoot your stuff
01:17:06and you have a portfolio also.
01:17:09So everybody needs a portfolio.
01:17:11It works.
01:17:12Makeup artists, you need a portfolio too.
01:17:17And you need to get in on these shoots
01:17:21and have photographs taken of your work
01:17:25so you can present yourself as a professional.
01:17:32And they can hire you for the shows.
01:17:34Also, maybe you can get in
01:17:37and do the makeup for a fashion show
01:17:39and have a photographer take pictures
01:17:42while you're working.
01:17:44Maybe you do it for free.
01:17:46You can talk to a designer and say
01:17:48I'll do it for free for you
01:17:50because I need to work on a portfolio
01:17:52and I'm new.
01:17:54Could you let me do the makeup?
01:17:57And they may just do that.
01:17:59But it works.
01:18:00One hand washes the other.
01:18:01And you have a photographer there
01:18:03taking the pictures.
01:18:05Well, you got a makeup portfolio.
01:18:09And you didn't pay anything.
01:18:11You just paid to get the pictures developed.
01:18:14And that's it.
01:18:16So instead of putting it all together yourself.
01:18:20If you can't do that,
01:18:22you're not in a city that has a fashion show
01:18:26where you can do makeup
01:18:28you're going to have to maybe go to a beauty salon
01:18:31and while the ladies are doing their hair
01:18:34you can ask to do makeup
01:18:37and have a photographer there take the pictures.
01:18:40So they're doing hair and makeup together.
01:18:43And you have a portfolio.
01:18:46Now this is the people that's in Oklahoma
01:18:49or somewhere in the Midwest
01:18:51where fashion and you want to be a model
01:18:55and you want to be a fashion designer or a photographer
01:18:58and you have these big dreams of coming to New York
01:19:01and going to Paris and Europe.
01:19:05Good. Come on.
01:19:07But try to be professional
01:19:11and ready when you get here.
01:19:15Not someone coming to New York
01:19:18with little money in their pocket
01:19:22no pictures, no nothing.
01:19:25And I'm just coming to New York
01:19:27and I'm trying to get into the fashion business
01:19:29and I don't have anywhere to start from.
01:19:33I've got to start. I've got to do everything in New York.
01:19:36We used to do that. People did that many times.
01:19:38I know girls who came from California to New York
01:19:41and became top models with one picture.
01:19:43Sent a picture in and Willamina said
01:19:45put her on a plane, bring her to New York.
01:19:48I'll pay the bills.
01:19:51That was then.
01:19:53Now it's like you have to be ready.
01:19:56You have to be at least on the first level
01:19:59for someone established to pick you up
01:20:03and offer you help
01:20:07to take you to the next level of professionalism.
01:20:14So at least you're ready as opposed to someone
01:20:17I'm not ready at all.
01:20:19And look at Vogue. Look at Bazaar.
01:20:21Look at all the magazines.
01:20:24If you're in a small town and you can't get them
01:20:27go online and see if you can subscribe to them
01:20:30where they can come to your home in the mail.
01:20:33And that way you can see what fashion is
01:20:36what the pictures are doing.
01:20:38It's always constantly changing.
01:20:40Every season they have to do
01:20:42every month they have to do an issue.
01:20:46It's always constantly changing.
01:20:49And you need to be up to date on everything.
01:20:52Where back then when I was modeling
01:20:55it was a bit slower.
01:20:57It was changing but not as fast.
01:21:00Also for you makeup artists
01:21:03make sure you do a summer, winter, fall, spring look.
01:21:09Hairdressers, summer, winter, fall, spring look.
01:21:14Models the same thing.
01:21:16You need a look for all seasons.
01:21:18And every time the season changes
01:21:21a new makeup line comes out.
01:21:23So they're advertising.
01:21:25And this is every year.
01:21:27To get rid of the old products
01:21:29bring in the new products.
01:21:31This is the new color for spring.
01:21:33If you're somebody like I was
01:21:35I was very psychic and I could basically tell you
01:21:38what colors was going to come in
01:21:40and I would get it in my mind
01:21:43would come in like a year or two years before it would come in
01:21:46before it would be popular on the market
01:21:49and I would be doing this.
01:21:51So if you can see into the future a little bit
01:21:53and see what's coming and do it
01:21:55that would be great.
01:21:57So now that I told you guys
01:22:00oh and diet.
01:22:01I told you about my elimination diet.
01:22:03I already spoke about that.
01:22:05So I don't think there's anything else that I can say
01:22:08about a black model in Paris
01:22:11just as a fact that I was
01:22:16breaking into a market.
01:22:19And this is what you guys are going to be doing.
01:22:21You're going to be breaking into a market.
01:22:23You know?
01:22:24And you have to set the standard.
01:22:28You know?
01:22:29You have to raise the bar.
01:22:30You have to set the standard.
01:22:31You have to be original.
01:22:33And everyone is original.
01:22:35But play up what you have.
01:22:38Play up what you have
01:22:41and work with it.
01:22:45Practice.
01:22:46Practice in front of the mirror also too.
01:22:48That happens.
01:22:49And like I said if you don't have a good
01:22:51you know you're quiet, you're shy
01:22:53I would advise you to read a lot
01:22:55so you know how to talk on many different subjects
01:22:58because you know people want to talk to you
01:23:00and they want to take you out to dinner
01:23:02and they want somebody interested
01:23:03and they like being entertained.
01:23:05And if you're not somebody that
01:23:06you know I don't want to entertain anybody
01:23:08I just want to come in and go to work
01:23:10go back home
01:23:11I think that works too.
01:23:14You know you may go into catalog work
01:23:16there were a lot of models who were like that
01:23:18who worked nine to six
01:23:20and they weren't entertaining
01:23:21they didn't go out to parties
01:23:23they didn't network
01:23:24they just went to work
01:23:25oh and they made you know
01:23:26two or three thousand dollars a day.
01:23:28Now the only other thing that was a drawback with me
01:23:31was because I was black
01:23:34I did not get the same pay rate
01:23:36as my Caucasian counterparts
01:23:39so uh
01:23:40counterparts
01:23:41so that was a problem
01:23:43but you know what
01:23:44I didn't worry about it
01:23:45I made enough
01:23:46a lot of money
01:23:47and I also had a lot of fun
01:23:49it offered me a life
01:23:50it offered me an education
01:23:52and without it
01:23:55I wouldn't be here talking to you guys.
01:23:58So thank you
01:24:00for watching
01:24:01A Black Model in Paris
01:24:03I hope my documentary has been
01:24:05entertaining and educational for you
01:24:08and I hope it can help you
01:24:12to move forward with your career in fashion.
01:24:33I will love you
01:24:36I will love you long
01:24:40I will love you
01:24:43I will love you strong
01:24:47I will love you
01:24:50I will love you through
01:24:54I will love you
01:24:57Hope my love is never through