Chanel Iman Joins Rare Group of Black L’Officiel Paris Covergirls

Jan 17, 2012

French fashion magazine L’Officiel, "the Bible of fashion and of high society," has put Chanel Iman on the cover of their February issue.

The New York Times called Iman a "model from day 1" and she was also in American Vogue as one of the "World’s Next Top Models."

"They want girls who are ethnic, but light-skinned girls. If a girl is very dark, they say no," Carol White, Premier Model Management founder and Naomi Campbell’s former agent, told the Daily Mail last year in a discussion of Paris runways.

Carol says Paris and Milan are the most notorious for not casting black models for runways and magazine covers. "There, they absolutely don’t want black girls. A black model has to be a real star before you can take her there. They only take a black girl when the biz is buzzing about her."

In February 2011 a black-face clad Beyoncé Knowles also graced the cover of L’Officiel.

Now if only Iman’s fellow runway models could stop calling her "Chopsticks" because she is one-quarter Korean.