The Extraordinary Beauty and Rise of Donyale Luna: A Dark-Skinned Fashion Star Defying the Odds

180 cm tall, legs like a Giacometti sculpture, slender fingers, caramel-colored skin, almond-shaped eyes, full lips and an oval face. People thought that she was from another planet – such beauty had never been seen before.

Peggy Ann Freeman, aka Donyale Luna, was born on August 31, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan, into a working-class American family with two other daughters.

She showed great interest in learning but wanted to become an actress more than anything else.

In 1963, when she was 18, she was spotted by fashion photographer David McCabe, who persuaded her to move to Manhattan and pursue a modeling career.

That year, she changed her name and became who we know her best, Donyale George Luna.

Without a clear plan – especially at a time when dark-skinned women didn’t really have a career in fashion – Luna believed in her potential.

She met the best fashion editors in all of New York. The risk paid off and she soon became a rising fashion star.

Luna lived the “American dream” and wrote in a letter to her childhood friend:

2023-09-12 21:03:46
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