Supreme Models : Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion

Recommended on Vogue's "'Superfine' Reading List" for the 2025 Costume Institute Exhibition

This gorgeous coffee table book is the first-ever collection of works devoted to celebrating Black models. "Fashion devotees will find glorious images of supers such as Iman, Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Joan Smalls, and Adwoa Aboah alongside interviews and personal essays.” —Vogue
 
Filled with revealing essays, interviews, and stunning photographs, Supreme Models pays tribute to Black models past and present: from the first to be featured in catalogs and on magazine covers, like Iman, Donyale Luna, and Beverly Johnson, to the supermodels who reigned in the nineties—Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, and Veronica Webb.
 
The book also observes a subsequent generation of models—Adut Akech, Jourdan Dunn, and Joan Smalls—who are shaking up the fashion industry by speaking out about racial prejudice while becoming social media sensations.
 
Written by celebrity fashion stylist and journalist Marcellas Reynolds, Supreme Models features more than 70 women from the last 75 years. Reynolds writes, “I hope that everyone who reads this book learns something about the models included within—and more about the business of fashion and modeling. But what I want most is for Supreme Models to be a source for the little boys, or girls, who like my childhood self, need to see themselves represented in a positive light.”
 
The book, filled with gorgeous photographs of the women, details their most memorable campaigns, covers, editorials, and runway shows. Black models have been influencing fashion and pop culture for decades, reshaping beauty standards and boundaries.

Supreme Models is a celebration of their monumental impact.

Marcellas Reynolds is a celebrity stylist, former model, and entertainment reporter. He lives in Los Angeles.