Supermodel Iman Reveals David Bowie Gave Her the Confidence to Break This Industry Barrier
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It’s hard to imagine supermodel Iman not being 100 percent confident in every move she makes, but rewind to the 1990s and she revealed that it took someone very special to get her to follow this ground-breaking dream.
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In a recent interview with NET-A-PORTER’s digital title PORTER, the supermodel revealed how her husband David Bowie gave her the confidence to go ahead and start her cosmetics line Iman Cosmetics. “He was actually the one who gave me the confidence to do Iman Cosmetics…” she said. “He asked, ‘What are you scared of?’ I didn’t know if I could do it and [was worried] about failing. He said, ‘What if it fails?’ He was convinced I was going to regret not doing it.”
In the same interview, she recalled how she was originally inspired to create her inclusive cosmetics line. While in the makeup chair, the artists created a foundation by mixing a lot of lighter shade foundations in hopes of a color match (but it more or less always failed.)
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“I looked gray. From then on, I went to Woolworths and would mix foundation and pigments and carried it with me to shoots,” she said. “Me and a friend would take Polaroids, and I would ask myself, how does this look, how does it translate? Even then I knew, like, this is how it was going to be. It was all those years ago that I got the idea for Iman Cosmetics.”
Fast forward a bit and Iman founded the legendary cosmetics line, which was known for breaking barriers in the makeup world. It focused on making foundations to match those of people with darker shades, who couldn’t find the right foundation for themselves due to the lack of shade range with other popular brands.
Not only do we love this brand’s origins story, but we love the nod Iman gave to her husband.
For those who don’t know, Iman and the Labyrinth legend originally met back in 1990 on a blind date. They married around two years later in 1992, and welcomed their daughter in Alexandria Zahra Jones, 22, in 2000. They were together until his death in 2016, and years later, Iman said she refers to Bowie as her “husband” rather than her “late husband.”
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity couples with the best stories behind how they met.
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