The famous model is known for her line of beauty products ‘Iman Cosmetics’ developed for ethnic skin tones
@Fashion Model, Facts and Personal Life
The famous model is known for her line of beauty products ‘Iman Cosmetics’ developed for ethnic skin tones
Iman Abdulmajid born at
Iman has been married three times. She married a Somali man during her time in college and they split upon her moving to the United States to pursue her modeling career.
Her second marriage was to basketball player Spencer Haywood in 1977 and ended after ten years. A year after marrying Haywood, she gave birth to her daughter Zulekha Haywood.
In 1983, she was involved in a car accident that took her out of modeling for a period of time.
Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid was born in Mogadishu, Trust Territory of Somalia and has four siblings.
Her parents were progressive for the region and gave her a masculine name in the hopes of helping her succeed in the future. She was sent to a Catholic school for a better education during her early years.
Her high school education was in Egypt after which she moved to Kenya to study political science at the University of Nairobi in 1973. She was discovered while at college by an American photographer named Peter Beard and moved to the United States to pursue a modeling career.
She began modeling in 1975 after being coaxed to move to the United States by American photographer Peter Beard. The next year, she took her first modeling assignment with ‘Vogue’ magazine.
She was treasured by designers for her exotic looks and served as a muse for Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, and many other designers.
In 1989, she retired from modeling, saying it was not fulfilling. She refocused on developing businesses and her charitable work.
She led the production of a documentary that chronicled her return to Somalia in 1992 and she has since been a vocal advocate for women's rights in her home country and in other third world countries.
In 1994, she created her own makeup line ‘Iman Cosmetics’ which produces cosmetics for ethnic skin. She has expanded sales of her line of cosmetics from department stores to prestige and charity lines.
In 2001, she wrote an autobiography 'I Am Iman' which tackles the issues she encountered about race and modeling during her career.
Iman wrote a guide to care and cosmetic tips for ethnic skin in her book 'The Beauty of Color.' The book was published in 2005.
In 2007, she produced and hosted 'Project Runway Canada' which won a ‘Gemini Award’.