In 2019 Stylist, Marcellas Reynolds, gifted the world with his book “Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion,” a literary love letter to the women of color who changed the face and culture of the modelling industry. Reynods joined Inside South Florida to share how those stories have been turned into a documentary.
“The documentary is doing so well on Vogue's YouTube channel,” says Reynolds. “The buzz about it, the phone calls, the emails, the text messages, people sliding into my DMs it's so gratifying.”
Reynolds’ book has had a profound effect on how people look at modelling, especially when it comes to women of color.
“It's so funny to say things like, ‘oh, I've done something for the culture,” says Reynolds. “But I had a conversation with Iman very early on and when she came on to the project, she said, ‘I'm only interested in doing things that shift the culture.’ It's about stepping into your purpose and when somebody like Iman sees value in you, and what you are trying to achieve, it's almost a weird validation in a way.”
Until recently Vogue hasn’t often featured black models, but Reynolds thinks this documentary is an important step to take.
“I definitely think this is like a step in the direction. I mean, we've all come so far in the last couple of years,” says Reynolds. “I feel like when does a platform like Vogue get to right the wrongs that they were systematically part of before? This to me seems like a powerful step forward.”
You can watch the Supreme Models docuseries on Vogue’s YouTube channel and purchase a copy of “Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion” wherever books are sold.
