Iman Biography

NAME: Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid

OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur, Model

BIRTH DATE: July 25, 1955 (Age: 56)

PLACE OF BIRTH: Mogadishu, Somalia

ZODIAC SIGN: Leo

Model, business executive. Born Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid on July 25, 1955, in Mogadishu, Somalia. Iman is sometimes described as her native land's most famous export.

A tall, dazzlingly beautiful black model from Somalia, Iman shot to international prominence in the late 1970s thanks largely to her coveted gig with Revlon cosmetics. She further boosted her popularity by appearing in numerous films during the 1980s and the 1990s, most notably Out of Africa (1985), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and House Party 2 (1991). One of the most recognizable and popular fashion models in the world, Iman is currently the CEO of Iman Cosmetics, Skincare and Fragrances, a line she introduced to market a series of products for women of color. The company has launched the I-IMAN Makeup line of cosmetics for use by all women.

By 1973, Iman was 18 and a student of political science at the University of Nairobi. She also worked as a translator to help pay her tuition costs. Photographer Peter Beard, a well-known figure in the fashion world, saw her one day on a street in Nairobi and was captivated by her long neck, high forehead, and gamine grace. He began following her, and finally approached her to ask if she had ever been photographed. "The first thing I thought was he wanted me for prostitution of naked pictures," Iman recalled laughingly about that day in an interview with Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service writer Roy H. Campbell. "I had never seen Vogue. I didn't read fashion magazines, I read Time and Newsweek. " But when Beard offered to pay her, she reconsidered, and asked for the amount due to the college for her tuition, $8,000; Beard agreed.