10 Iconic Black Supermodels You Should Know

Pat Cleveland

Vogue Paris December 1990 Pat Cleveland-3Photo: Vogue Paris

Pat Cleveland was discovered on the train in NYC by then Vogue fashion editor, Carrie Donovan. Born in Harlem, Pat Cleveland is one of the original black supermodels of the 70′s along with Naomi Sims. She started as a model for Ebony‘s Fashion Fair tour but once she saw how racist Americans were towards Blacks while on tour she moved to Paris and began hanging out with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Juan Ramos. She was a muse to Halston and is known for being an exhibitionist and theatrical. She still models today and recently appeared in an ad campaign for Zac Posen with her daughter who is also a model.