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Dressed: The History of Fashion
Donyale Luna: The Life and Legacy of a Legendary Model, Part I
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- [00:00]
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- [01:04]
April Callahan
Enjoy this episode from the Dressed archive of over 500 + shows. Dressed will be back with all new content in March of 2025. Until then, consider heading to DressedHistory.com to explore our latest online fashion history classes and in person tours of Paris and New York City. More from Dressed coming your way soon.
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Cassidy Zachary
Foreign.
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Tracy Jenkins
Billion people in the world. We all have one thing in common. Every day we all get dressed.
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Cassidy Zachary
Welcome to Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast where we explore the who, what, when of what, why we wear. We are fashion historians and your hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.
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Tracy Jenkins
Well dress listeners, I'm dying to know if you are a fan of 1960s fashion. So did you actually wear it and experience it in the 1960s or do you just appreciate it today like April and myself? So if you are a fan regardless, you've no doubt seen or remember seeing countless images of today's subject, and that is Danielle Luna. The lanky, beguiling Detroit, Michigan native took fashion world by storm in the 1960s after becoming the first black model, and actually first model of color in general, to ever grace the COVID of both Harper's Bazaar and vogue magazines in 1965 and 1966 respectively.
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Cassidy Zachary
So famous had Danielle become after her trailblazing covers that time magazine declared 1966 the Luna year. So she basically skyrocketed to superstardom, becoming one of the highest paid and sought after models of the decade. She modeled for the era's great fashion designers Like Paco Rabanne and Rudy Gernreich. Or Gernreich, depending on who you ask these days. And she became amused to tastemakers of the artistic avant garde like Federico Fellini, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali. And yet, until the last decade or so, her life and legacy had kind of largely been forgotten. Something perhaps attributed to the fact that she had a very tragic and untimely death in 1979 at just the age of 32 years old.
- [03:30]
Tracy Jenkins
That a star that shone so bright could have died so young is a tragedy, but the life she lived was nothing short of extraordinary. Ever since April, my dear friend and colleague Tracy Jenkins and I co curated the Youthquake Fashion revolution exhibition at FIT in 2012. I, like so many others, have been captivated by Danielle. I mean, she's absolutely magnetic, and I know I am not alone. But just who was this enigmatic beauty who captivated the world? And I mean, in many ways, digging into Dhonielle's story has left more questions than answers. One of Danielle's high school sweethearts, a man by the name of Don Strachan, has been one of the few people who has worked to chronicle her short life. And he has said that reconstructing it is, quote, like chasing a ghost through a house of mirrors.
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Cassidy Zachary
Danielle's daughter, Dream Cazaniga, born in 1977, has a similar perspective. In a 2019 article written for Vogue UK about her mother, Dream wrote about the challenges of, quote, trying to separate my mother from the myths around her. The people who actually were close to her, including my father, Luigi Casaniga, struggled to describe her. Nobody could keep fantasy and the reality of her in their heads at the same time. Wow.
- [04:44]
Tracy Jenkins
In the 1960s, the New York Times described Danielle as, quote, secretive, mysterious, contradictory, evasive, mercurial and insistent upon her multiracial lineage. Exotic chameleons of Mexican, American, Indian, Chinese, Irish, and last but least escapable Negro. End quote. The ambiguity around her ethnicity was something she herself played into, giving different answers on the subject to different journalists throughout her career. And it's also something that is reflected in her work as an actress and a model. But one thing does remain clear about Danielle, and there was no one like her, writes her daughter. Quote. Some people declared her a Maasai warrior, Goganesque, never Titi reborn. Others claimed she was another spirit species entirely or from outer space. In fact, she was irreducible and entirely herself. So, like so many of fashion history's most mysterious figures, looking at you, Chanel, self mythologizing was part and parcel to the creation of Danielle's identity and Persona. As we will learn about in this two part series, she was a shape shifter of her own design.
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Cassidy Zachary
Yes, Danielle Luna was actually born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit, Michigan on August 31, 1946. Her father, Nathaniel worked for the Ford Motor Company and her mother and namesake Peggy was a receptionist for the ywca, which is of course stands for Young Women's Christian Association. And Dhonielle had two sisters, Lillian and also Josephine, who was a half sister from her mother's previous relationship. And in 2009, Lillian was interviewed by Dawn Strachan and as we mentioned before, the one time boyfriend of Danielle. For his extensive blog about Danielle Luna's.
- [06:31]
Tracy Jenkins
Life, Don writes, quote, lillian remembers a carefree childhood, fairly affluent family, growing up in Detroit, playing with her sister, going to movies, swimming, dancing in church contests, dance lessons, eating her mother's fabulous home cooked meals. For Lillian, it was just fun. She had no dreams of becoming a dancer, but Peggy was much more serious about it, end quote. Even then, Lillian told Dawn of her sister, quote, everything she did was exotic and different. That's why she got noticed so much. And Lillian adds that Peggy was a happy, carefree, kind hearted young woman who had good grades, loved animals and had a lot of friends.
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Cassidy Zachary
By the time her one time boyfriend, Sanders Bryant first met her in high school at the age of 15, Peggy Ann Freeman had already become Danielle Luna. In a 2009 conversation with Dawn Strachan, he says that at the time she was, quote, already radiant and gorgeous and already clearly working on self mythologizing. Saunders remembers Danielle told him that she was recently arrived from Hawaii and that her parents had tragically been killed in a car accident. Quote, she continued that story as long as I knew her, said Sanders, even after I knew her mother and father and that she was born in the Ford Hospital right here in Detroit, end quote. And apparently she told a similar story to dawn, who she met a few years later.
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Tracy Jenkins
Yeah, and Sanders continues, she was sharp, she was quite observant. She didn't have an off switch. She ran it such a high octave level that it was almost draining. She was always upbeat, very conscious, very feeling. Her enthusiasm drew you in, made you part of the experience. She had the same effect on everybody. But he acknowledges it was hard to get into her head. You never knew whether she was putting you on. None of us could ever tell her reality, but she always knew her identity.
- [08:18]
Cassidy Zachary
Dhonielle would later tell Cosmopolitan magazine that, quote, when I was 16, I knew I was going to be great End quote. At this time, she had aspirations of becoming an actress, not a model. And she was a quadruple threat. Acting, singing, dancing, and local productions at Civic Center Theater in Detroit. And she was also a writer. When Saunders first met Danielle, he said that she was working on a film script. And Danielle later told Cosmopolitan, quote, I wrote a book when I was 16. It was about a crazy, mixed up girl, very tragic. She falls in love and they both die. I won literary awards from the English departments of both my Detroit schools, and I was in all the newspapers.
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Tracy Jenkins
Yeah. But it turns out it would not be her literary or acting skills that would initially chart the path of the teenage Dhonielle, but rather her striking appearance. Dhonielle was, quote, unquote, discovered by celebrity fashion photographer David McCabe in 1963. McCabe told New York magazine's the Cut in 2013, quote, I was on a photo assignment in Detroit photographing Ford cars, and there was a school nearby. I was struck by this almost sick foot tall, Beautiful girl, around 14 years old at the time, wearing her Catholic uniform. She stopped to see what was going on. And Makeba apparently introduced himself to Danielle, who was actually in reality probably 16 or 17 years old. Her height, however, is harder to pin down and one key factor that adds to her ever evolving mythos. So while pretty much everyone seems to agree that she was 110 pounds, depending on the article, her height ranges from 510 to 6 5. So the reality is probably somewhere in the middle. I think she was more like 6:2. That seems to be a 5:10 and 6:2 actually are. Are two heights that come up quite a lot. But one thing is sure, Danielle was statuesque. She cut a striking and magnetic figure.
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Cassidy Zachary
McCabe saw her potential and gave Danielle his phone number, telling her if she was ever in New York to call him, despite protests from her mother, who thought McCabe was, you know, out to corrupt her daughter. Of course, within a year, Danielle was actually l in New York City with her aunt, working as a secretary while pursuing modeling and taking acting classes on the side. And although a few years later, Danielle would tell Cosmo that, quote, there was nothing they, meaning the acting coaches could teach me that I didn't already know. I have this gift that I know what to do. I don't want to spend years studying and taking bit parts. I think it's best to start at the top, end quote.
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Tracy Jenkins
Yeah. So clearly she did not lack confidence. She was very excited also about the prospects that the Big Apple had in store for her. Danielle's friend, Karen Miller, shared a letter with Don Strachan that Danielle wrote to her shortly after arriving in New York City in November of 1964. She said that Dhonielle writes, I can't describe myself as of now. You see, I'm happy, excited, upset and just everything. I moved to New York last week and I feel so independent. It's just wonderful, really it is, darling.
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Cassidy Zachary
Danielle's dreams were no doubt best embodied by her daughter of the same name, who writes of her mother of this period. Quote, I read a letter she wrote to Marianne, her childhood friend, just after she moved, and it said, quote, new York is a dream. A man danced me down fifth Avenue and all up and down Broadway. Men were eyeing and whistling at me. As soon as possible, I'll send a picture of the new me. I'll be on top of the world if it takes every breath I have, every muscle of my skinny body, I feel it, I know it. I'll become a star real soon. Real soon.
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Tracy Jenkins
And she was not wrong. I mean, the girl knew she was charted on this path because within a month of moving to New York, as promised, McCabe had introduced Danielle to Harper's Bazaar editor in chief Nancy White, as well as the magazine's art directors, Ruth Ansell and Bea Faitler. And groundbreaking fashion model turned Harper's Bazaar senior fashion editor Cheena Machado, who obviously needs her own episode. April. In a 1968 interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, Sheena stakes claim to being the first editor to photograph models of color and to discovering Darnell. She says, quote, when she walked into my office three years ago, she was a skinny kid who couldn't even make up her own eyes. I took her to photograph and we combed her hair for months before we could do anything with it. But she had a certain bizarre look that was perfect.
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Cassidy Zachary
Just one month after moving to New York, Dhonielle wrote to her friend Karen Miller again that she was, quote, living a beautiful dream. End quote. Not only had she signed a one year contract with Harper's Bazaar, she was the January 1965 cover star of the American edition of the magazine. Well, I mean, in an illustration of Danielle by Katerina Denzinger, which appeared on the COVID wearing a citron green mobile dress by David Crystal, described as, quote, skimming the knee with new proportions, an Adolfo white straw hat and Dolman shoes, Dhonielle was already on her way to making history. More on that after a brief sponsor break.
- [13:22]
Dream Cazaniga
Dressed listeners, we will be back in March 2025 with a brand new season of Dressed. But you don't have to wait until then to indulge your fashion history appetite.
- [13:33]
April Callahan
Because not only do we have 500 plus episodes in the Dressed Archive for you to explore, but registration is also.
- [13:40]
Tracy Jenkins
Open now for our brand new online.
- [13:42]
April Callahan
Course the 1950s Golden Age of Haute Couture which is coming your way very soon on February 2nd as well as our ultra exclusive jam packed New York City Day tours coming your way April 9th, 10th and 11th of this year. We are so excited for this year's lineup.
- [13:58]
Dream Cazaniga
Join us in stepping back in time and into the beating heart of the American fashion industry with three days of exclusive behind the scenes access you won't find anywhere else. From world class fashion collections at the Metropolitan, the Museum of Art and the Museum at FIT to the famed Garment District, this once in a lifetime experience is filled with incredibly special experiences where we will meet museum curators, expert fashion makers and more than a few past Dressed guests.
- [14:27]
April Callahan
Make that eight past dressed guest to be exact, April all of whom Dressed listeners will be contributing their unique expertise to this incredibly special trip with your fellow fashion history love lovers and of course your favorite fashion history podcasters. So head to dresshistory.com to reserve your spot now and get dressed with us in Newark City.
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Tracy Jenkins
As the illustrated cover star of American Harper Bazaar January 1965 issue, Dhonielle became the first black model to appear on the COVID in the magazine's entire history, and her presence does not stop there. She's the subject of six other fabulous illustrations by Katharina in an article entitled the Chic Proportions 65, and she's modeling a variety of fashions. In an interview with art historian Richard Powell for his 2011 article From Diaspora to Black Women Artists in 1960s and 1970s Europe, Katarina said that, quote, the bizarre editors came to the one room studio apartment where I did the work with the clothes and uniform. Cops watched while Danielle modeled and I drew her. The results are absolutely electric. I can't wait to share these with you dress listeners on Instagram. Dhonielle is the star of a modernist dreamscape. The colorful fashion she models seamlessly form part of the color blocking in this series of Mondrian esque illustrations.
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Cassidy Zachary
In another letter to her friend Karen, Danielle writes, quote, I was going to give up modeling after I finished my job with Harper's Bazaar, but the more I've been seen, the better it is for me. I'm working with Bazaar again for the February issue. This time I get a hundred dollars a day. I'm going to tell my boss work. Because she was still working as a secretary at this time that I'm sick or dying because I can't pass up a great opportunity. End quote. And In April of 1965, Danielle was featured again within the pages of American Harper's Bazaar. This time in a multi page spread photograph by arguably the most famous fashion photographer of the 1950s and the 1960s. And that would of course be Richard Avedon.
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Tracy Jenkins
Oh, yeah, yeah. No one quite like Richard Avedon. And this issue, April, as you know, is actually one of the most iconic in the history of fashion. In celebration of Avedon's two decades working with Harper's Bazaar, he actually served as both the issue's only photographer for every feature and the magazine's first ever guest editor. He was given complete artistic license for the issue, which he billed as, quote, a partial passport to the offbeat side of now. How very 1960s.
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Cassidy Zachary
And it is such an iconic issue we have several versions of at fit. And you will know it immediately when you see it, even without checking the date, because on the issues cover there is this stunning image of the fashion model Jean Shrimpton. And she has a hologram blinking eye that's actually like a hologram material on the COVID So that's how you know it's that particular issue. She's also wearing what can only be described as a pink astronaut helmet by Mr. John the Milliner. And the COVID and the issue's content are undeniably reflective of Avadon's and the world fascination with the race to space that dramatically influenced pop culture, fashion and the world at large during this particular era.
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Tracy Jenkins
Yeah, and this fascination is further reflected throughout the magazine and editorials highlighting Ange Courreges space cowgirls, for instance, Jean Shrimpton as the Galactic Girl on the moon. And then there's an article entitled the Lunar the Fingernails in youn Future starring none other than Ms. Danielle Luna. And the title of Luna's three page feature is clearly a play on her name. But actually what's very interesting is otherwise the photographs are surprisingly stripped of any more like moon or lunar illusions. Avedon instead focuses on celebrating the captivating and statuesque model herself. So you know this. The photographs are stripped of any props or distracting backgrounds. And Avedon's photographs really emphasize Luna's quote unquote tall strength as exhibited in designs by James Galanos.
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Cassidy Zachary
Yes, and Danielle's endorsement by the era's top fashion photographer in a top fashion magazine really solidified her arrival on the fashion scene. It was a groundbreaking achievement for a model of color at this time. And as we already know from past dress interviews with Joy Bivens on the Ebony Fashion Fair and Marcellus Reynolds on the iconic black woman who revolutionized fashion. Black models were, of course, not new in the 1960s, but Danielle's success was actually paved by a whole generation of groundbreaking black models who worked before her.
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Tracy Jenkins
However, as her daughter dream reminds us, quote, there were virtually no modeling opportunities for non white faces anywhere other than dedicated African American publications such as Ebony. And I'm still amazed at how brave my mother was to leave home for Manhattan at that point in history with no clear plans or steady income, just a telephone number hastily written down by a stranger. As a girl of color. At that time, simply believing in her own worth and following her true calling were great revolutionary acts, as were the times.
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Cassidy Zachary
Revolutionary because Danielle moved to New York City in 1964, the very same year that the landmark Civil Rights act act was passed, which outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin. And, you know, equal rights did not immediately translate into equal representation, of course, as we know. And while women of color had previously appeared in the pages of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, that was an exception, not the rule. So Abaddon's centering of a woman of color did not go unopposed.
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Tracy Jenkins
That is correct, because after the issue's publication, Southern advertisers reportedly pulled their ads from Harper's in protest. Something that, of course, did not sit well with Harper execs. And as Avedon was later to lament, quote, for reasons of racial prejudice in the economics of the fashion business, I was never permitted to photograph her for publication again. And this is actually quite a shocking admission when you consider just how much influence Avedon clearly had at this time and potentially could have had in changing the politics of the magazine. But perhaps that is a story for another day that would require a lot more digging.
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Cassidy Zachary
Yes, for sure. And Avedon's statement really helps to illuminate the racist underbelly of the fashion industry that no doubt haunted Dhonielle's success. You know, while she was the first model of color to grace the COVID of Harper's Bazaar and that previously mentioned illustration, her skin had been noticeably lightened and her facial features are in constant flux, depending on what illustration you look at. And the question lingers even to this day as to whether this was a conscious effort to kind of render her ethnicity ambiguous.
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Tracy Jenkins
Yeah, we may never know this answer, but we do know that Avedon's decision to highlight Danielle in photographic versus illustrative detail in his April 1965 issue prompted advertisers to pull their ads and as Avedon just told us, never allow her in the publication again. Which begs the question, April, was it that sort of blatant racism that would prompt Danielle's decision to leave America for Europe just a year after arriving in New York City?
- [21:40]
Cassidy Zachary
And as we already know, this is not an unfamiliar story because Americans like Patrick Kelly and Josephine Baker left the US For Europe under similar motivations. But in Danielle's case, it appears that there were actually multiple motivating factors that may have prompted her exit.
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Tracy Jenkins
Yes, quite a few, actually. So as Dream writes of her mother, quote, it seems glamorous, except that my mother could never quite escape prejudice. On the one hand, people longed for her to become a symbol of the African American resistance, a role she struggled with as someone who identified as mixed race. On the other, Southern advertisers pulled funding and readers canceled their subscription when she graced a magazine's pages, end quote. But she continues, in the end, no matter what she did in America, she was always going to be limited by the color of her skin. So she made another leap, this time to Europe, where discrimination was less prevalent. So years later, Danielle's husband, Luigi told the cut that Luna identified as white and black, but, quote, felt rejected by the black community and the white one, end quote.
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Cassidy Zachary
In America, Dream shares that her mother told her father, Luigi, that in Europe, quote, I wouldn't have to be bothered with political situations. When I woke up in the morning, I could live and be treated as I felt without having to worry about the police coming along, end quote. This disenchantment with America was similarly echoed by Danielle in a 1968 interview with the New York Times in which she said, quote, I am not an American. Yeah, I'm an American on black and white, but I'm me. When I got out of school, I started seeing. And that's when I said, do away with the churches, the police, the government, because it's all bunk. It does no good at all. It only creates things like Vietnam, Hiroshima, race riots and frustration, confusion and destruction. She continues, quote, a lot of things I wish I had never seen because they are ugly and disgusting. Disgusting. They exist all over the world, not only in America, but they're more out in the open here.
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Tracy Jenkins
So while prevalent racism in America seems a likely reason for Danielle's move, she actually told Cosmo magazine in 1966 that, quote, it had nothing whatsoever to do with it, end quote. Instead, Danielle gives the reason of a failed marriage at the age of 18 to a man named Philip Jackson. But there is actually another possible factor that Danielle chose not to discuss in the media. But the media, of course, discussed it anyways, and that was her father's death.
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Cassidy Zachary
Just two months after her 1965 Harper's Bazaar cover, Danielle's father, who was reportedly an abusive alcoholic, was shot and killed by her mother in self defense. And as Danielle's sister Lillian told Dawn Strachan, quote, my mother didn't want to kill him. She just wanted to shoot him and knock him down or something. End quote. While we may never know what Danielle's relationship was with her father or the impact that his death had on her, we do know that she did not attend the funeral, choosing to remain instead in New York City with her new husband. But that marriage did not last the year.
- [24:41]
April Callahan
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Cassidy Zachary
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Cassidy Zachary
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Dream Cazaniga
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- [28:09]
Tracy Jenkins
So, taking all of these factors into consideration, is it any wonder that the then 19 year old escaped it all to move to swinging London, the bustling and exciting epicenter of the 1960s youthquake revolution? Whether or not she was trying to escape her past, Dhonielle was running straight into her future.
- [28:27]
Cassidy Zachary
After moving to London, Dhonielle experienced what can only be described as a meteoric rise to famous success. Just four months after her arrival, Time magazine declared 1966 the Luna Year, dedicating an entire article to a woman they deemed, quote, unquestionably the hottest model in Europe, end quote. Now rising into ascendancy is a new heavenly body, the article reads, who because of her striking singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season.
- [28:57]
Tracy Jenkins
The lunar year was undeniably ushered in by a stunning multi page spread of Danielle, featured two months prior in the pages of Paris Match magazine's February issue. Danielle is photographed April by a stunning 11th seven different photographers.
- [29:13]
Cassidy Zachary
I mean, that was a hell of a shoot. Or shoot plural.
- [29:17]
Tracy Jenkins
Again. Can't wait to share these images with you all because they're amazing and I mean this is just an incredible exemplar of her appeal and one no doubt that was underscored by her talent for transformation, writes Time of the editorial. Quote. From a pose out on the landing gear of an airborne helicopter to an underwater dive with her diaphanous robes streaming behind her, Danielle never seemed the same. The slight hardening of a soft smile and a lift of the chin transformed her from Gauguanesque to Egyptian, far more than the sum of her long model spindly parts. She's a creature of contrast one minute, sophisticated the next, fawn like now, exotic and far away, now a gamine from around the corner, end quote.
- [30:00]
Cassidy Zachary
Time credits her success to her chameleon capabilities, writing that quote that is her secret, the reason why she may last longer than most in the fashion world. Like her namesake the moon, she is different in every phase, yet always recognizable the same and herself, end quote. So there is a really stunning array of images and they are particularly noteworthy for their level of surrealism and playfulness. And some photographers capture more of a sort of modern whimsy. Patrice Habens, for example, photographs Danielle in a Guy Laroche Op Art art ensemble surrounded by lights and wigs, while Maurice Jano has her in a sparkly body hugging dress on an operating table surrounded by white coated and masked doctors and nurses.
- [30:45]
Tracy Jenkins
In the Philippe Letelier images, Danielle appears in different ice skating dreamscapes, which are wonderful, and she's surrounded by a cast of men. In one image they're wearing tuxedos, and in another image the men are fencing in historic aspired costumes. So such a broad range of images, but hands down, my favorite is the Gerard Geri image of her in an underwater dreamscape depicted in full tantalizing color. And actually Getty Images has wonderful black and white behind the scene photographs documenting this photography session which took place in the Moulin Rouge's giant glass pool, which I did not know existed. They're absolutely wonderful and well, part of.
- [31:26]
Cassidy Zachary
That reason is because when we were In Paris in August, the Moulin Rouge was not open.
- [31:30]
Tracy Jenkins
I know. I wonder if they still have a giant glass pool. We'll see.
- [31:34]
Cassidy Zachary
We'll find out soon. The arrival of the era's new it girl was confirmed just one month later with Danielle's appearance on the COVID of British Vogue's March issue, photographed by the ERA's IT photographer, David Bailey. And the COVID made Dhonielle the very first model of color. Too great the COVID of any edition of Vogue in the magazine's entire history. So let that just sink in. Just two years into her modeling career, Dhonielle had made history by becoming the first model of color to grace the COVID of not one, but two of the era's most widely circulated fashion magazines.
- [32:12]
Tracy Jenkins
Yeah, and of course, in contrast to her Harper's bizarre cover debut, the Vogue cover features a photograph of Dhonielle. It's a headshot of her. She's wearing a gold and pink Chloe dress with of course, you can just see the top and these giant gold Mimi d'in earrings. Her hand is covering her face. Luna's features are masked, with the exception of one all knowing, all seeing eye, which is outlined in black a la Cleopatra. And she's staring directly at the camera through her fingers. It's an incredibly stunning image, but one that raises questions even to today.
- [32:44]
Cassidy Zachary
In a 2013 article on Danielle on her blog, style and design writer Anya Georgevic references two different theories of why Bailey chose to mask Don Face. Quote, one rumor claims that Bailey had her hide her features in her hand in order to hide her ethnicity. The other explanation for the curious pose was that Bailey was highly influenced by Picasso's compositions. And Danielle had the features, those ginormous eyes to pull it off. I like to believe the latter. The issue was entitled Eye on the International Collections, so perhaps she was the eye.
- [33:20]
Tracy Jenkins
Yeah. And the second explanation is even more likely when you consider that Dhonielle is the star of the magazine's main editorial feature, which is this fabulous multi page spread featuring Dhonielle alongside model Moira Swan and another 1960s American fashion icon, Peggy Moffatt. The women model the latest fashions from the French haute couture collections with Danielle wearing looks by Jean Patou, Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent. These images are quite wonderful. But I have to say that some of my all time favorite fashion history images, and arguably some of the most stunning images in all of fashion history. April, you can tell me if you agree with me are of Danielle modeling the avant garde designer Paco Rabanne.
- [33:59]
Cassidy Zachary
Yeah.
- [33:59]
Tracy Jenkins
Who also needs his own episode.
- [34:02]
Cassidy Zachary
Well, we'll get to that. Maybe season five, maybe season six. We'll see. So much to talk about. I mean, we could just keep, as we always say, keep this show going forever and ever and ever. But back to Dhonielle. Just one month later, she appeared in Vogue again, this time in American Vogue's April 1 issue in which she stars in a feature in Vogue's Eye View as the girl in the chips, end quote. She was photographed by Guy Bourdin in a Paco Rabanne roided linked poker chip dress, which is oh so cool and oh so Paco Rabanne. And like Danielle, the Spanish born Rabanne had been making waves in the fashion world since the previous year with his radical approach to dressing using non traditional materials like plastic and also metal. And for his spring 1966 collection, Vogue writes that, quote, in a flash of double derring do, he showed a small collection of dresses all using plastic as the chic ingredient and all put together with metal links and flexible threads, end quote. So while the Bardin image of Danielle is in black and white, the dress she's wearing was pink, silver and green. And her hair was done by none other than Vidal Sassoon.
- [35:16]
Tracy Jenkins
By June of 1966, Jet magazine deemed Danielle, quote, the most photographed girl of 1966, while Harper's Bazaar declared her, quote, one of the most strikingly beautiful women of our time. People were enthralled with this mysterious Beauty. In their November 1966 issue, Cosmopolitan magazine dedicated a multi page article to an interview with Danielle. We've referenced it already repeatedly throughout this episode. It was by journalist Helen Lorenson, who described her as, quote, built like an elegant conger eel, life as a whip, stunning as a cougar. That's Danielle, and yes, that's her real name. A year ago, who'd even heard of Danielle? Yet today, at 20, she's the highest paid model in the world, making $100 an hour, and that's roughly about $900 an hour today.
- [36:04]
Cassidy Zachary
Helen also provides us with a really wonderful, evocative description of the supermodel who had enraptured the fashion world, writing that she, quote, was wearing a stunning suit of flecked brown, black and white tweed with a brown ribbed poor boy sweater. Her skirt was several inches above her knees, giving a startling view of her incredibly long, skinny legs, which are bare and brown. Her hands, too, are exceptionally long and thin, accentuated by false fingernails which she has flown in from America, lacquered white. She has the biggest eyes I have ever seen, bright brown and made up like a Russian ballet dancers with two black parallel lines extending from the outer corner of each eye all the way to her hairline. No photographer has really gotten my eyes, she told me. Not even Avedon. And he's the greatest.
- [36:52]
Tracy Jenkins
And just a small brief digression for all our fellow dog lovers out there, Dhonielle brought to lunch her small white Maltese dog, who was also apparently wearing a matching ribbed sweater. So as Helen points out in the article, Danielle had, quote, become the most sensational model in the fashion world today, having emerged from complete obscurity to begin her career at the very top. And she was by no means done making waves. Dress listeners, we are actually at the end of part one of our story and we are not even two years into Danielle's modeling career. It's only November 1966 and she's also just 20 years old, which is just incredible. So be sure and tune in Thursday for the conclusion of this two part series.
- [37:38]
Cassidy Zachary
Well, well, that does it for us today. Dress listeners, may you consider using clothing to explore your own chameleon like abilities next time you get dressed?
- [37:51]
Dream Cazaniga
Remember, we love hearing from you, so if you would like to write to us, you can do so@hellodressedhistory.com dressedhistory.com is also where of course you can register for our tours, our trips, our new.
- [38:03]
Cassidy Zachary
Class, anything else that we have up.
- [38:05]
Dream Cazaniga
Our finely tailored sleeves.
- [38:08]
April Callahan
That includes April's twice weekly in person fashion History tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as our brand new dress the School of Fashion live online course, the 1950s Golden Age Haute Couture which is now open for registration. And we do have gift cards available for both April's tours and the class. So just send us an email@hellorusthistory.com and also send us an email if you want to get on the first to know list for our New York City Day tours coming your way in April 2025 and our Paris Fashion History tours.
- [38:38]
Tracy Jenkins
Coming your way in June.
- [38:39]
April Callahan
Registration for both of these tours will open in January and we do expect them to sell out, so send us an email to get on those lists.
- [38:47]
Dream Cazaniga
Thank you as always for your continued support. Dressed will be coming back your way.
- [38:51]
Cassidy Zachary
For Season 8 in early February.
- [38:56]
Dream Cazaniga
The History of Fashion is a production of Dress Media.
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