double whammy

{ 10/14/2009 @ 9:57 am } · { 1 }

Chanel & Jourdan Cover Teen Vogue

TeenVogue.com

Chanel, is not just a regular model. A striking mix of African-American and Korean, she’s one of the only models of color to break into the major leagues in a long, long time. Not since Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks, both of whom are now in their late 30s, has a black model garnered this much intrigue and attention. You would think in a day when America has elected its first black president, the notion of a black supermodel wouldn’t be such an anomaly. But until Jourdan Dunn appeared on the scene a few years ago, Chanel didn’t have much company at the top.

Nineteen-year-old Jourdan Dunn was discovered at a chain store in her native London by the same agency that lifted Kate Moss out of obscurity. She quickly established herself in the fashion elite with a history-making turn on the runway at Prada—the five-foot-ten Brit was the first black model to walk a Prada show in over a decade, the last one to do so having been Naomi Campbell in the nineties. “Everyone kept saying, ‘Jourdan, you know how huge it is if you do this,’” she says. “Prada is notorious for cancelling girls last minute, so I was like, Okay, I’m confirmed, but I’m not going to get all excited until I’m actually on the runway. As I was lining up, I was still thinking, Any minute now they can come round and tell me, ‘Jourdan, you’re not doing the show.’ So once I turned the corner and stepped onto the runway, I was like, Oh my God, I’m doing Prada!’”