Beverly Johnson, an African American model, poses on an angle with her hands in her pockets. She wears an ensemble designed by Louis Dell'Olio and Donna Karan for Anne Klein.
Fashion is a fickle thing. While various shows are introduced as being “major,” and almost every model is dubbed “the industry’s next big thing,” fashion moments that are truly game-changing tend to be few and far between. Breakthroughs that are big enough to challenge the norms and standards of the fashion industry come rarely. However, one of these genuinely major moments was observed in 1974, when the first African American model appeared on the cover of Vogue, a fashion magazine considered to be at the forefront of the industry. Beverly Johnson, raised in Buffalo, New York, became the first person of color to appear on the magazine’s cover, marking a momentous event and catapulting her to fame. The cover portrait by Francesco Scavullo celebrated Johnson’s color, presenting an elegant beauty who was real, relatable, and in resonance with the era.
