Iman Abdulmajid has lived a full life. But even at 65, the legendary supermodel, philanthropist, and widow of David Bowie has not slowed down her pace.
“Iman cuts across all ages and experiences,” designer Michael Kors tells The New York Times. “Today women are out there trying to juggle and to make sense of it all. You look at the way Iman looks, her success in business, her need to try new things and to have her own point of view and be a wife and mother, well, not many people have come full circle like that.”
But in addition to her regular schedule of running a beauty brand and engaging in wide-ranging activism, Iman has also released a preview of her upcoming Fall fashion releases, exclusively through HSN.
A polyglot and muse from day one
A cosmopolitan woman, Iman was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. However, she spent her childhood traveling between there, Egypt, and Kenya.
“I’m Muslim and Egypt was a very progressive place,” she explains to Vogue Arabia. “Girls like me could go to school. I completely fell in love with the people and the cultural legacy that goes far beyond the pyramids.”
While at the University of Nairobi, photographer Peter Beard discovered Iman’s modeling talents. She soon became the covergirl of many major magazines, and a muse to major designers. Yves Saint-Laurent himself once called her his “dream woman.”
However, Iman also noticed that as one of the only Black models of the time, she often faced objectification, exoticization, and just plain racism.
“As my career progressed, I became the first black model to refuse to work for a lower wage than other girls,” she tells Vogue Arabia. “To me, I was providing the same service, so I had to be paid equally.”
Perhaps in part, this adversity pushed Iman towards some of her other ventures. These include her eponymous Iman Cosmetics, founded in 1994, which provides women of color with a more diverse range of makeup options.
She also designed a series of one-size-fits-all embroidered caftans for the Home Shopping Network, which grew into an entire collection called Global Chic.
In addition to these business ventures, Iman is a philanthropist who works with a long list of charities, including Save the Children, the Children’s Defense Fund, the Enough Project, and is CARE’s first Global Advocate. She earned the BET Service Award at the 2011 BET Honors, and spoke out against the conflict mineral trade in the Congo and its relation to sexual violence.
Iman and David Bowie: a power couple out of the spotlight
Beyond her varied and successful career, many know Iman from her high-profile – though carefully protected – marriage to the late David Bowie. The couple had one child together, a daughter named Alexandria Zahra Jones. Iman is also the stepmother to Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones. Despite both Iman and Bowie sharing much scrutiny and limelight, the couple kept their marriage private for its 24 years, up until Bowie’s death in 2016.
Iman, in her typical quiet fashion, posted “the struggle is real, but so is God” when the news broke. Today quotes Iman as telling host Wendy Williams, “home is private.”
Bowie once said of Iman, “my attraction to her was immediate and all-encompassing. I couldn’t sleep for the excitement of our first date. That she would be my wife, in my head, was a done deal.”
Iman has stated that she will “never remarry.”
An affordable and chic collection for Fall 2020
Though none would blame her for settling into retirement after a long and successful career, Iman continues to shine in the world of fashion. The Home Shopping Network described her latest collection as “a sophisticated collection inspired by Iman’s travels around the world.”
Part of the IMAN Black Fashion collection, consisting of chic black/white/grey items for any occasion
Part of the Global Chic collection, this caftan is reminiscent of Middle Eastern tile designs in its symmetry and intricacy
Iman’s items also include jewelery and other accessories apart from clothes, such as this beautiful gold hammered statement necklace
Browse the full collection here
