Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid, professionally known as Iman, is a Somali fashion model, actress
and entrepreneur.
A pioneer in the field of ethnic cosmetics, she is also noted for her charitable work.
She is married to David Bowie.
Early life and education Iman was born in Mogadishu, Somalia.
She is the daughter of Marian and Mohamed Abdulmajid.
Her father was a diplomat and a former Somali ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and her mother
was a gynecologist.
She has four siblings: two brothers, Elias and Feisal, and two younger sisters, Idil
and Nadia.
For her education, Iman attended high school in Egypt and later lived in Kenya, where she
studied political science at the University of Nairobi.
Iman is Muslim, and fluent in five languages: Somali, Arabic, Italian, French and English.
Career Modeling
While still at university, Iman was discovered by American photographer Peter Beard, and
subsequently moved to the United States to begin a modeling career.
Her first modeling assignment was for Vogue a year later in 1976.
She soon landed some of the most prestigious magazine covers, establishing herself as a
supermodel.
With her long neck, tall stature, slender figure, fine features, copper-toned skin,
and exotic accent, Iman was an instant success in the fashion world, though she herself insists
that her looks are merely or typically Somali.
She became a muse for many prominent designers, including Halston, Gianni Versace, Calvin
Klein, Issey Miyake, Donna Karan, and, in particular, Yves Saint-Laurent.
During her 14 years as a high fashion model, Iman also worked with many notable photographers,
including Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Annie Leibovitz.
Iman credits the nurturing she received from various designers with having given her the
confidence to succeed in an era when individuality was valued and model-muses were often an integral
part of the creative process.
She is signed to TESS Management in London.
Business Iman Cosmetics
After almost two decades of modeling, Iman started her own cosmetics firm in 1994, focusing
on difficult-to-find shades for ethnic women.
Based on her years of experience mixing her own formulations for make-up artists to use
on her, she had a personal hand in the final product and also acted as the commercial face
of the company.
As of 2010, Iman Cosmetics is a $25-million-a-year business.
It is centered on $14.99 foundations in 4 formulations and 14 shades, and is among the
top-selling foundation brands on Walgreens' website.
In spring 2012, Iman signed fellow Somali designers Ayaan and Idyl Mohallim, founders
of the Mataano fashion company, as brand ambassadors for her cosmetics line.
Global Chic Due to her marketability and high profile,
Iman was approached in 2007 by the CEO of the Home Shopping Network to create a clothing
design line.
Inspired by her childhood in Egypt and modeling time with Halston, Iman's first collection
introduced embroidered, one-size-fits-all caftans.
Today, her Global Chic collection is one of four best-selling items among more than 200
fashion and jewelry brands on HSN, having evolved into a line of affordable accessories.
Cinema Television
Iman twice appeared in Miami Vice, playing Dakota in Back in the World and Lois Blyth
in Love At First Sight.
Also in 1988, she appeared as Marie Babineaux on an episode of In the Heat of the Night.
In the mid-2000s, Iman spent two years as the host of Bravo TV's fashion-themed show,
Project Runway Canada.
In November 2010, she along with friend and colleague, designer Isaac Mizrahi, also began
hosting the second season of The Fashion Show, a series Bravo started to replace its former
hit Project Runway that now moved to the Lifetime network.
Film An occasional actress, Iman first featured
in the 1979 British film The Human Factor, and appeared in the 1985 Oscar-winning film
Out of Africa alongside Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.
She then portrayed Nina Beka in the 1987 thriller No Way Out with Kevin Costner, and later played
a shapeshifting alien named Martia in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Video games Iman makes a cameo alongside her husband David
Bowie in the 1999 Windows 9x and Dreamcast 3D adventure game, Omikron: The Nomad Soul,
developed by the video game company Quantic Dream.
She appears as one of the numerous Omikronian citizens the player can "reincarnate" into.
Philanthropy In addition to running her global beauty company,
Iman is also actively involved in a number of charitable endeavors.
She is currently a spokesperson for the Keep a Child Alive program, and works closely with,
among others, the Children's Defense Fund.
She also serves as an Ambassador for Save the Children, and has been active in raising
awareness of their relief services in the greater East Africa region.
Additionally, Iman works with the Enough Project to end the global trade in conflict minerals,
having played a key part in the public campaign against blood diamonds through her termination
of her contract with the diamonds conglomerate De Beers over a conflict of ethics.
Awards Over the course of her long modeling and philanthropic
career, Iman has been the recipient of many awards.
On June 7, 2010, she received a Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council
of Fashion Designers of America, a special prize reserved for "an individual whose signature
style has had a profound influence on fashion".
Iman selected her friend, actress and former model Isabella Rossellini, to present the
award.
Wearing a gown designed by Giambattista Valli with four giant diamond bracelets on each
arm, Iman thanked her parents "for giving me a neck longer than any other girl on any
go-see anywhere in the world".
Personal life
Iman first got married at the age of eighteen to a young Somali man with whom she had fallen
in love.
The marriage ended a few years later when she moved to the United States to pursue a
modeling career.
In 1977, she married American basketball player Spencer Haywood.
Their daughter, Zulekha Haywood, was born in 1978.
The two divorced in February 1987.
On April 24, 1992, Iman married British rock musician David Bowie in a private ceremony
in Lausanne.
The wedding was later solemnized on June 6 in Florence.
They have one daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones, born August 15, 2000.
Iman is also stepmother to Bowie's son from a previous marriage, Duncan Jones.
Both children bear Bowie's legal surname.
Iman and her family reside primarily in Manhattan and London.
Bibliography I Am Iman
The Beauty of Color Filmography
See also Mononymous persons
Notes
References Fashion Model Directory – Iman Abdulmajid
– Profile External links
Official website Iman at the Internet Movie Database
Iman at the TCM Movie Database Iman at AllMovie
Iman at the Fashion Model Directory Iman Cosmetics
Iman on Myspace Iman on Twitter