Iman reveals she turned down jobs during her early career due to ethnicity pay gap

Iman has revealed that she turned down work when she first moved to the United States because she was paid less than white models.

The Somali-born supermodel, 67, made her breakthrough in the industry in the 1970s, recalling a conversation she had with her agent at the time.

Iman told TheWrap, “When I got here, I was faced with, among other things, a pay discrepancy between black models and white models. I didn’t understand.”

Iman recalled a conversation with her agent and continued, “I said to her, ‘I want to be paid for services rendered, which simply means I want to be paid for the same work as her.'”

The star, who was married to the late music icon David Bowie, explained: “I understood right away and then I was just 19 years old, that image is my currency in this industry.”

Iman founded her own cosmetics line, Iman Cosmetic, in 1994 to ensure that she was protected in the fashion industry as a black model.

Speaking: Somali-born supermodel, 67, broke into the industry in the 1970s, recalling a conversation she had with her agent at the time

Flashback: Recalling a conversation with her agent, Iman continued, “I told her, ‘I want to get paid for the same work she does'” (Pictured in 1975)

She explained how she often had problems when she arrived on set, because makeup artists couldn’t pay attention to her skin tone.

Iman says the fashion industry has made progress on racial equality, but warned that more needs to be done, as she recalled a minuscule number of black models used in shows in 2013 urging people to “don’t take your foot off the gas.”

It comes as the cover model appeared on CBS this morning with host Gayle King, 67, to talk about the new Supreme Models documentary.

Documentary: It comes as the cover model appeared on the CBS This Morning news show to speak about the new Supreme Models documentary

Iman is executive producer of the six-part series, which will be streamed on YouTube Originals.

The show tells the stories of black models who have broken down barriers and exerted their own influence on fashion and beauty standards.

Iman helped form the Black Girls Coalition in 1988 with fellow models Bethann Hardison and Naomi Campbell. She served as an executive producer on the docu-series.

Frustrated: Sharing one of her own frustrating experiences, Iman revealed that the makeup artist didn’t have a foundation that matched her skin tone in her first modeling job

“When I was approached by the directors at YouTube about this docu-series, I thought, ‘What are you bringing to the table that hasn’t been said before?’ and they said, “There’s never been a documentary about black models, or black beauty for that matter.”

That made sense to the founder of Global Chic, who said she came on board so that “we could tell our own stories.”

During the interview, Iman shared one of her own frustrating experiences from her early days in the company.

“The first job I booked was American Vogue, literally the third day I arrived in New York, and I had never worn makeup before,” she revealed.

Makeup: Iman has done her makeup with ease now. She created Iman Cosmetics to provide options for Women of Color

She recalled that the makeup artist hired for the shoot was working on a Caucasian model, “and when he approached me, he said, ‘Did you bring your own foundation?’ because he had nothing for me.’

After some two decades of posing for photos and strolling the catwalk, the savvy businesswoman created Iman Cosmetics, based on her experience mixing her own formulations for makeup artists.

“I definitely made my own cosmetics because… in fashion, image is my currency, so how I look in magazines, how I look in photos, it’s really, really what they want and so I wanted to have some control over that .’

Flawless: After nearly two decades of posing for photos and strolling the catwalk, the savvy businesswoman created Iman Cosmetics, based on her experience

Iman said she used her skills as a political science major to get rid of what she called “tokenism” in the fashion industry, which pitted one black model against another for the top jobs.

“They’ve created the idea that you’ve dethroned the other black model so you have some space,” she said of her early days as a model.

‘I come from that mentality, that as a group, as a tribe, we are stronger than alone. So, I teamed up with Beverly Johnson and we became best friends… and we got rid of that symbolism right away.”

“Instead of calling out people or designers, I wanted to bring them in so they could understand what was going on.”

Changes: Iman said she used her skills to get rid of what she called “tokenism” in the fashion industry, which pitted one black model against another for the top jobs