Naomi Ruth Sims (March 30, 1948 – August 1, 2009) was an American model, businesswoman, and author, She was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of '' Ladies' Home Journal'', which occurred in November 1968, and is widely credited as being the first African-American supermodel.
Early life
Sims was born in
Oxford, Mississippi
Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Ox ...
, the youngest of three daughters born to John and Elizabeth Sims. Her father (whom she never knew) reportedly worked as a porter, but Sims' mother later described him "an absolute bum" and her parents divorced shortly after she was born. She was teased for her height of 5'10 at the age of 13. Elizabeth Sims later moved with her three daughters to
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, Pennsylvania,
where Naomi's mother was forced to put her child into foster care. She attended Westinghouse High School. There, due to her height, she was ostracized by many of her classmates. Sims credited her upbringing as a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
for helping to get her through adolescence.
Career
Sims began college after winning a scholarship to the
Fashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...
in New York City, while also taking night classes in psychology at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
. Her early attempts to get modeling work through established agencies were frustrated by racial prejudice, with some agencies telling her that her skin was too dark. Her first career breakthrough came after she decided to sidestep the agencies and go directly to fashion photographers and Gösta Peterson, a photographer for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', agreed to photograph her for the cover of the paper's August 1967 fashion supplement.
Despite this breakthrough, Sims still found it difficult to get work, so she approached Wilhelmina Cooper, a former model who was starting her own agency, saying that she would send out copies of the ''Times'' supplement to advertising agencies, attaching Cooper's telephone number, and that Cooper's agency would get a commission if Naomi received any work. Within a year Sims was earning $1,000 a week. The key breakthrough came when she was selected for a national television campaign for AT&T, wearing clothes by designer Bill Blass. In 1968 Sims told '' Ladies' Home Journal'',
It helped me more than anything else because it showed my face. After it was aired, people wanted to find out about me and use me.
Success
Sims became one of the first successful
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
models while still in her teens, and achieved worldwide recognition from the late 1960s into the early 1970s, appearing on the covers of prestigious fashion and popular magazines. ''The New York Times'' wrote that (her) "appearance as the first black model on the cover of '' Ladies' Home Journal'' in November 1968 was a consummate moment of the
Black is beautiful
Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that was started in the United States in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread beyond the United States, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in ...
movement". She also appeared on the cover of the October 17, 1969, issue of ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine. This made her the first African-American model on the cover of the magazine. The images from the 1967 ''New York Times'' fashion magazine cover and the 1969 ''Life'' magazine cover were exhibited at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in an exhibition entitled ''The Model as Muse.''
By 1972, Hollywood took an interest in Sims as a potential actress and offered her the title role in the movie ''
Cleopatra Jones
''Cleopatra Jones'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Jack Starrett. Tamara Dobson stars as an undercover government agent who uses the day job of supermodel as her cover and an excuse to travel to exotic places. Bernie Casey, S ...
'', but when Sims read the script, she was appalled by the racist portrayal of blacks in the movie and turned it down. Sims ultimately decided to go into the beauty business for herself. Sims retired from modeling in 1973 to start her own business, which created a successful wig collection fashioned after the texture of straightened black hair. It eventually expanded "into a multimillion-dollar beauty empire and at least five books on modeling and beauty".
Sims authored several books on modeling, health, and beauty, including ''All About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman'', ''How to Be a Top Model'' and ''All About Success for the Black Woman'', as well as an advice column for teenage girls in '' Right On!'' magazine.
Personal life
In August 1973, she married art dealer Michael Findlay. Findlay and Sims caused a stir as Findlay was white and interracial marriage in 1973 was still considered taboo. Findlay and Sims were both profiled separately in the February 1, 1970, issue of '' Vogue'' before they met and married. They had one son, Bob. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1991.
Naomi was diagnosed with
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
.
Death
Sims died of breast cancer on August 1, 2009, aged 61, in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.