
Chanel Iman Robinson (formerly Shepard; born December 1, 1990) is an American model
who has worked as a
Victoria's Secret Angel
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...
. ''
Vogue Paris'' declared her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Early life
Iman was born in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
in 1990. She grew up in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. She is
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
with one quarter
Korean lineage from her mother.
Career
Modeling
Iman started modeling with
Ford Models
Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford.
History 20th century
Eileen and Jerry began the bu ...
at the age of 12 as a child model in Los Angeles, California. She flew to New York in 2006 and won third place in Ford's
Supermodel of the World contest.
Shortly after, she signed on with the agency. She has appeared in editions for ''
Allure'', Dubai, American, and Ukrainian ''Harpers Bazaar'', ''
V'', ''i-D'', ''
Pop'', Italian, British, and Indonesian ''Elle'', Italian ''
Vanity Fair'', and several international ''Vogues''. In February and July 2007, Iman appeared on the cover of ''
Teen Vogue
''Teen Vogue'' is an American progressive online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenage girls and young women. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and ...
'', with
Karlie Kloss
Karlie Elizabeth Kloss (born August 3, 1992) is an American model. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2013 until 2015, when she resigned to study at New York University. By 2019, Kloss had appeared on 40 international ''Vogue (magazine), V ...
and
Ali Michael, photographed by
Patrick Demarchelier
Patrick Demarchelier (; 21 August 1943 – 31 March 2022) was a French fashion photographer.
Early life and education
Born near Paris in 1943 to a modest family, Demarchelier spent his childhood in Le Havre, Normandy, with his mother and fo ...
, then in November 2009 she appeared on the cover again, this time with
Jourdan Dunn. Iman's other covers include American, British, and Italian ''
Elle
Elle may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication
** Elle Style Awards
* Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition
* Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film
* ''Elle: ...
'', American and French ''
L'Officiel'', ''
i-D'', Dubai and Ukrainian ''
Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
'', ''Lula'', Korean, Teen, and American ''
Vogue''.
She has walked the runways for
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and headquartered in London, England. It designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats, leather accessories, and footwear. It is l ...
,
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...
,
Gucci
Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...
,
Balenciaga
Balenciaga SA ( , , ) is a Spanish Basque luxury fashion house currently headquartered in Paris. It designs, manufactures and markets ready-to-wear footwear, handbags, and accessories, and licenses its name and branding to the American cosmeti ...
,
Max Mara
Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business that markets upscale ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). As of October 2024 the company ha ...
,
Versace
Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...
,
Yves Saint Laurent,
Oscar de la Renta,
Stella McCartney,
DKNY,
Moschino
Moschino () is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1983 by Franco Moschino in Milan known for over-the-top, Camp (style), campy designs. The company specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, and fashion accessories.
Moschino's ...
,
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( ; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger (company), Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.
After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's P ...
,
Jason Wu,
Dior
Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior, is a French Multinational corporation, multinational luxury goods company that is controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH. , Dior controlled around 42% of ...
,
Michael Kors
Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...
,
Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss AG (stylized in all caps) is a designer fashion company headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, Fashion accessory, accessories, footwear, and Leather, leather goods. Hugo Boss is one of the ...
,
Ralph Lauren,
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, ...
,
Kenzo,
Hermés,
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...
,
Alexander McQueen
Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His ac ...
,
Roberto Cavalli,
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...
,
DSquared2,
John Galliano
John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. From 2014 to 2024, Galliano was the creative director ...
, and
Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta S.r.l () is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy. Its product lines include ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, accessories, jewellery and fragrances.
Bottega Veneta is headquartered in Milan, Italy, with its main at ...
.
She has appeared in advertising campaigns for
Jean Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and Ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter fashion designer.
He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs in ...
,
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, ...
,
Ralph Lauren,
DKNY,
Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta S.r.l () is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy. Its product lines include ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, accessories, jewellery and fragrances.
Bottega Veneta is headquartered in Milan, Italy, with its main at ...
,
DSquared2, Dennis Basso,
Swarovski
Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Tyrol. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.
The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal Business, which primarily produces crystal glas ...
,
XOXO,
Benetton,
J. Crew,
Barneys New York
Barneys New York is an American brand founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman that operated full-line department stores from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks F ...
,
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...
,
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...
,
GAP,
Express
Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn
* ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid
* The Expre ...
,
Mizani, and
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...
.
She has walked in the 2009, 2010, and 2011
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual promotional event sponsored by and featuring Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie. From 1995 to 2018, Victoria's Secret used the show to market its goods in high-profile settings. Models under ...
s. In 2010, she became a
Victoria's Secret Angel
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...
and was used in several of the company's campaigns.
Television
In October 2007, Iman appeared with her mother
on an episode of the ''
Tyra Banks Show''. On March 21, 2009, she appeared as a correspondent in
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's brief revival of ''
House of Style'' with
Bar Refaeli.
On September 9, 2009, Iman appeared as a guest judge on the two-hour season premiere of ''
America's Next Top Model, Cycle 13'' and also appeared on an episode of ''
America's Next Top Model, Cycle 23'' posing with the contestants of that cycle.
She also made an appearance on a January 2016 episode of
Spike's ''
Lip Sync Battle
''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John ...
'', as part of
Olivia Munn
Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network G4, and on the series '' ...
's performance of
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's "
Bad Blood".
Acting
Iman appeared in the 2015 film ''
Dope'' which premiered at the
2015 Sundance Film Festival. In 2017, Iman appeared in the
Crackle original movie, ''
Mad Families''.
Other projects
Ventures
Early in 2010, Iman opened a clothing boutique in
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...
called The Red Bag with the help of her mother.
Iman appeared in
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
's music video for "
Yoncé". She also appeared in singer
Usher's music video for "
Dive" and
The Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...
's music video for "
Can't Feel My Face". In 2012, she attended the
Met Ball with fashion designer
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched Tom Ford (brand), his eponymous brand in 2005, having previously been the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Sai ...
.
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
released a
Kinect
Kinect is a discontinued line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB color model, RGB cameras, and Thermographic camera, infrared projectors and detectors that map dep ...
video game on
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
starring Chanel Iman,
Chris Evans and
Redfoo of LMFAO. Iman signed a contract with Utah-based electronics company
Skullcandy. For 2012, Iman was
Sunglass Hut's summer ambassador along with
Jourdan Dunn and
Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls Rodriguez (born July 11, 1988) is a Puerto Rican model and television personality. In 2011, she became the first Latinas, Latina model to represent Estee Lauder Companies, Estée Lauder cosmetics. In 2013, she entered ''Forbes'' maga ...
.
Iman was a model for
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
Fashion's 2012 holiday campaign. In 2015, she appeared in
Rick Famuyiwa
Rick Famuyiwa (born June 18, 1973) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and television director.
He is best known for the films ''The Wood'' (1999), ''Brown Sugar'' (2002), and '' Dope'' (2015), as well as for his work on the television series ''The ...
’s
''Dope''.
Philanthropy
In 2011, Iman traveled to East Africa on a work trip where she became one of a handful of celebrities attached to
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance.
Established in 19 ...
and
Ad Council
The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-gover ...
's FWD campaign, an awareness initiative tied to
that year's drought in East Africa. She joined
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...
,
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy ''Toots ...
and
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. He began his career on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's drama series ''Cracker (American TV series), Cracker'' (1997–1998), after which he became known as a teen idol thro ...
in TV and internet ads to "forward the facts" about the crisis. As an advocate for education, Chanel assists with setting up primary schools in impoverished rural areas in
Tanzania
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
and
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
. Her passion for charity work led her to sponsor several young girls in
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
as well, in which she contributes funds for their daily necessities and academic tuition.
In May 2011, editor-in-chief of American ''
Vogue'',
Anna Wintour
Dame Anna Wintour ( ; born 3 November 1949) is a British-American media executive, who has been serving as editor-in-chief of '' Vogue'' since 1988. Wintour has also served as global chief content officer of Condé Nast since 2020, where she o ...
, chose Iman to co-host her Runway to Win fundraising event in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. In conjunction with the event, Iman designed a backpack to raise money for President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
's 2012 campaign.
Personal life
In early 2013, Iman began dating rapper
A$AP Rocky
Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mo ...
.
[ In April 2014, they were reported to be engaged;] however, they separated in June 2014. In August 2015, it was confirmed that Iman was dating Lakers basketball player Jordan Clarkson, although they ended the relationship shortly after.
On December 2, 2017, Iman announced her engagement to New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
wide receiver Sterling Shepard. They were married at the Beverly Hills Hotel on March 3, 2018, and have two daughters. The pair announced they were getting divorced in January 2022, with the divorce finalized in April 2023.
In 2022, Iman began dating Davon Godchaux, an American football defensive tackle for the New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
of the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). The couple announced they were engaged on May 30, 2023. Iman gave birth to their daughter on September 19, 2023. The couple married in early 2024.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
The Internet Fashion Database
Chanel Iman
at Vogue.com
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iman, Chanel
1990 births
African-American female models
American models of Korean descent
Fairfax High School (Los Angeles) alumni
Living people
People from Atlanta
Female models from Los Angeles
Female models from Georgia (U.S. state)
IMG Models models
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women