Dunyale Luna
First discovered at the age of 18, Donyale is considered as the first black supermodel after gracing the covers of British Vogue Magazine in March 1966. Donyale Luna was a few weeks shy of 21 at the time of the feature, and at such a young age, she managed to change the ideology and standards of mainstream beauty and made it more diverse opening up avenues for future models such as Beverly Johnson, Grace Jones and Imani. Following the advice of many photographers in the fashion industry in the USA, she moved to London in December 1965 where diversity was being embraced better to pursue a bigger modelling career. In March 1966, she featured on the cover of British Vogue. Her success with the magazine soon made her the most wanted face in the entertainment industry. In an April issue in 1966, Times Magazine declared 1966 year as the “Luna Year” and referred to Luna as “unquestionably the hottest model in Europe at the moment”. Dunyale visited the USA frequently for work and pleasure but never settled permanently until she died in Italy at 33 through an overdose on heroin.
