The Fine Art of Family Magazine

Decades before Michelle Obama stepped into the style spotlight as the First Lady, wearing a wardrobe that could rival another fashionable first lady, Vogue had shined the light on a fresh-faced beauty named Beverly Johnson–the first black woman to appear on the magazine’s coveted cover.

A rising model, Johnson had already appeared in another fashion magazine, Glamour, where she had earned the respect of the late Ruth Whitney, the magazine’s editor-in-chief for 31 years. Whitney once wrote her a note congratulating her on her ability to transcend racial barriers in the industry. Johnson, now 56 and still gorgeous (pictured below), admits that she didn’t immediately understand the weight of Whitney’s words until she answered a phone call one summer’s day in 1974. On the other end was a reporter from The New York Times magazine, calling to ask her about being the first black woman on the cover of American Vogue.

“I am?!” she asked, surprised. Guess no one had told her.

Looking at that special photograph of herself wearing a solid, blue sweater and a girl-next-door grin, she instantly knew it was more than just a pretty picture. Suddenly a poster child of change, the New York-native was thrust into a movement that would enable black women to reach their highest potential in the fashion modeling industry.

Following Johnson’s groundbreaking photo shoot, model Naomi Campbell became the first black woman to appear on both the 1987 and 1988 covers of  British and French Vogue, respectfully. Her victory was less by chance and more by demand. Legend has it, the world-famous high-fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent had campaigned on behalf of Campbell, and other black models, to ensure diversity on that front page.

Though some black women have seen great success in fashion modeling, there is still work to do, says Johnson. “Not long after that [1974] cover, the industry was a real melting pot…you saw models from Africa, Brazil, Russia, and America all together in magazines and on runways,” she says. “But now, we seem to have taken a few steps back. A culture of fairness shouldn’t be a trend,” she says. “It’s a principle.”

With President Obama and his wife, Michelle (who recently snagged a cover spot in Vogue‘s March 2009 issue) around to raise the bar on multiple levels, well beyond fashion, Johnson hopes that the movement she proudly contributed to some decades earlier will pick up again and finally hit its steady stride.

[Photography of 1974 Vogue cover courtesy of Johnson; Photography of Johnson today by Fadil Berisha]

Published on December 29, 2009

Tags: Behind the Lens, Celebrating, Fashion, Photography, The Arts