First published 2015
Beverly Johnson chronicles her journey from studious child in the racially charged 1960s to fashion icon who shattered barriers by becoming the first Black model on American Vogue's cover in 1974. This New York Times bestselling memoir reveals Johnson's encounters with celebrities like Jackie Kennedy, Calvin Klein, Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, and Warren Beatty during the wild partying of the 1970s and Hollywood's excess in the 1980s. Johnson confronts her battles with racism in the fashion industry, drug addiction, divorce, and a brutal child custody fight for her daughter. She opens up about her romance with tennis legend Arthur Ashe and pays tribute to mentor Naomi Sims while exposing the competitive tensions between models during fashion's golden era. The book includes previously unseen photographs from Johnson's childhood and modeling career, offering readers an unfiltered view of wealth, fame, and the fashion world's upper reaches.
Genres: 20th-century, african-american, autobiography, biography-memoir, fashion-designers, 21st-century, fashion, fashion-design
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: overcoming-adversity, rags-to-riches
Setting: America, Vogue
Period: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
256 pages · Kindle Edition · Atria Books
Content warnings: drug-use, racism