Glamsquad_Magazine_Aug_2023

FEATURE
Donyale
Luna:
The First Black Model to Appear
on Vogue Magazine
By Sasha Bokamoso
Born 1945 as Peggy Ann
Freeman in Detroit, Michigan,
American model and actress
Donyale Luna was discovered
by the photographer David
McCabe, she moved from
Detroit to New York City to
pursue a modeling career.
In January 1965, a sketch
of Luna appeared on the
cover of Harper’s Bazaar. She
became the first black model
to appear on the cover of a
Vogue magazine, the March
1966 British issue, shot by
photographer David Bailey.
Legendary mannequinmaker
Adel Rootstein, who had
created a Twiggy mannequin
the year before, made one
of her in 1967. Luna’s was the
first well-known, if not the first,
mannequin of a black woman.
Luna also appeared in several
underground films by Andy
Warhol, and had roles in Qui
êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?
(1966), and most notably as
Enotea in the 1969 Federico
Fellini film Fellini Satyricon as well as
Otto Preminger’s Skidoo, alongside
Groucho Marx.
Luna later moved to Italy
and married photographer Luigi
Cazzaniga. They had a daughter
named Dream. But her fast rise
also introduced her to LSD and
heroin. She died of a heroin
overdose in 1979 at the age of 33.
Take a look at these stunning
pics to see the fashion styles of
Donyale Luna in the 1960s and
1970s.
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