| Net Worth: | $300 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Model |
| Date of Birth: | July 25, 1955 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.75 m |
About Iman
Some of the stories included in the new six-part YouTube series Supreme Models include Iman’s rise to the top of the fashion industry and her subsequent advocacy for Black models. Executive producers for the show include both Iman and Marcellas Reynolds, author of the source novel. Iman has been modeling since 1975, and since then she has amassed one of the most extensive portfolios in the business.
Iman was born in Mogadishu, Somalia to a Muslim family under the name Zara Mohamed Abdulmajid. Her diplomat father and Saudi Arabian gynecologist mother did not raise her instead Iman spent her early childhood years under the care of her grandparents. She was shipped off to an Egyptian boarding school when she was just four years old, and she stayed there through her teenage years.
Iman’s father reestablished the family’s residence in Somalia after the country’s political upheaval. She eventually moved to Kenya with her mom and siblings; her father and youngest sibling later joined them there. In 1975, she attended the University of Nairobi for a short time to study political science. After waiting a year, she got her first modeling job at Vogue in 1976.
Iman dated Warren Beatty, an American actor, in 1977. As the year progressed, she announced her engagement to American basketball player Spencer Haywood, and the couple wed not long after. After having a daughter together in 1978, Zulekha Haywood, they separated in February 1987. Within a short time, she was on the covers of the most prominent magazines in the world, solidifying her status as a supermodel.
The Human Factor, a British film from 1979, featured Iman for the first time. Iman played the role of Dakotah in two episodes of Miami Vice (1985). Out of Africa, starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1985, and she had a little role in it. She also appeared on The Cosby Show in the role of Mrs. Montgomery in an episode (1985).
With Kevin Costner in 1987’s suspense film No Way Out, she also played the role of Nina Beka in the film, and with Michael Caine in 1987’s comedy Surrender, she played the role of Hedy. In Love at First Sight, she played Lois Blyth (1988). In 1988, she also made a guest appearance on In the Heat of the Night playing the role of Marie Babineaux.
Iman and David Bowie, an English musician, went on a blind date in Los Angeles in 1990. There were only Antolin, Antolin’s boyfriend, Iman, and Bowie in the restaurant when she arrived. The following day, he invited Iman to tea, whereupon Iman discovered that he was not a tea drinker. They visited a local coffeehouse.
In a small ceremony on April 24, 1992, Iman wed Bowie in Lausanne, Switzerland. From 1992 until his death in 2016, she was married to rock star David Bowie. She got her start in Hollywood in 1991, and in that first year she was involved in several different movies.
She has appeared in several movies, including Lies of the Twins (directed by Tim Hunter) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (as a shapeshifting alien). She co-starred with her future husband David Bowie in 1991’s The Linguini Incident. Both the 1991 comedy House Party 2 and the 1994 comedy/romance Exit to Eden featured her in supporting roles.
In 1994, Iman launched her own cosmetics company catering to ladies with traditionally underserved skin tones. She played a vital role in the final product and represented the company in the marketplace. The romantic comedy Exit to Eden, in which she starred that year, was another film in which she had a prominent role.
Omikron: The Nomad Soul was a 3D adventure game for Windows 9x and Dreamcast released in 1999 by video game developer Quantic Dream, and featured a cameo appearance by Iman and her husband David Bowie.
Alexandra Zahra Jones, the child of Bowie and Iman, was born on August 15, 2000, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. In 2007, the CEO of the Home Shopping Network (HSN) approached Iman about designing a line of garments for the company due to her marketability and celebrity status. The name “Global Chic” describes her line on HSN.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) presented her with the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award on June 7, 2010. This honor is given to “an individual whose signature style has had a profound influence on fashion” By 2010, annual sales at Iman Cosmetics had reached $25 million. It’s one of the best-selling foundation lines on Walgreens’ website, and it centers on foundations that cost $14.99 and come in four different formulations and 14 different hues.
Somali designers Ayaan and Idyl Mohallim, who started the fashion label Mataano in the early 2010s, have joined Iman as spokespeople for her cosmetics line.
The struggle is real, but so is God,” she wrote in tribute to Bowie after his death on January 10, 2016.
Iman has been CARE’s first-ever Global Advocate since September 2019, contributing to the organization’s efforts to end extreme poverty and ensure that all people can live with respect and safety. Iman’s trademark fragrance, Love Memoir, was introduced in late 2021.
