Lovely Liya Kebede earned $1.5 million in 2007 putting her at no. 15 in the Forbes list of top earning models.
In 2003 Liya Kebede became the first black woman to represent cosmetics giant Esteé Lauder in its 59 year history. The multi-million dollar contract helped propel Liya to the list of top earning supermodels....and when that contract finally ended in 2007 Liya was pushed down to last place (supermodels and money).
Liya Kebede had been modeling since turning 20 in 1988 but hit the big time only in 2000, by which time she was already married! And even more unconventionally she personifies the new adage of modeling after motherhood when she gave birth to her son Suhul at the age of 23.
Liya and her husband Kassy Kebede (top). Liya with her second child, daughter Rahee, born 2005
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Pretty unconventional stuff for a model, right? Liya Kebede had started a charity foundation in 2006 to reduce maternal newborn and child mortality, and to improve the health and well being of mothers and children around the world. She became Goodwill Ambassador for the WHO in 2005. And the reason Liya feels strongly about this issue is due to her own experience in her native country of Ethiopia:
I grew up in Ethiopia, where it was very common to hear about women losing their lives during childbirth—to the point where, when I was pregnant with my son in the U.S., I worried, because I thought it was sort of normal for a woman to die while giving birth.
Ethiopia is located in the "Horn of Africa", the part of the continent in the east, which juts up into the Arabian Peninsula. Liya Kebede was born Jan 3 1978 in the capital Addis Ababa; her father worked in the Ethiopian Airlines while her mother was in public relations. With her four brothers Liya grew up in a relatively affluent family.
Liya Kebede became interested in modeling while studying at a French school, Lycée Guebre Mariam, in Addis Ababa. In fact her first modeling assignment was to raise money for her graduation. At this time Liya was spotted by a French film director, and he introduced her to modeling agent based in Paris.
Liya Kebede moved to Paris to try modeling in 1998, and made her debut at the spring Ralph Lauren and BCBG Max Azria shows in New York. Liya also lived in Chicago with her brothers in this period, but the going was tough:
I worked in Chicago doing catalogs, and there everybody scares you about modeling in New York. They say, "Oh, they're going to eat you "alive." It was very discouraging.
The beginning of modeling is rough. I had to face many rejections and insecurities that I was forced to overcome if I didn’t want to lose my mind.
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The dejected Liya then moved back to Ethiopia. It was at this time that she met Kassy Kebede, a hedge fund manager in Ethiopia, and got married to him. Liya then moved with him to settle down in New York where her modeling career really took off.
Liya Kebede has appeared on the covers of many international editions of Vogue, South African Elle, Numero, Harper's Bazaar, Essence, French Flair, Italian Flair and Time’s Style & Design.
Liya Kebede has walked the runway for Marc Jacobs, Moschino, Sean John, Valentino, Jean-Paul Gaultier, La Perla, Nina Ricci, Oscar de la Renta, Versace, Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, Burberry, Fendi, Hermes, Kenneth Cole, Ralph Lauren, Aquascutum and Emanuel Ungaro, Balenciaga, Diane von Furstenberg and Roberto Cavalli.
Apart from her multi-million contract with Esteé Lauder, Liya Kebede has been the face of Yves Saint Laurent (2001), Dolce & Gabbana (2003), and Tiffany's & Co (2004).
In 2007 Liya Kebede was included in Vanity Fair’s International Best-Dressed List.
Liya Kebede is now one of the few black faces seen in fashion modeling, and this article in the International Herald Tribune explores the reasons given by designers for not picking more "ethnic" faces:
"It's a white European girl look that is being made popular on the magazine covers," said Holly Alford, a fashion historian. The late 1980s and early '90s were seemingly a better time for black models, including Campbell, Banks, Webb, Beverly Peele and Karen Alexander. And even earlier were Pat Cleveland, Naomi Sims, Iman and Beverly Johnson, the first black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine, in 1974. Gisele BĂĽndchen helped usher in an era when Brazilian bombshells dominated the catwalk. That era has passed, even in Brazil, where critics complained earlier this year that SĂŁo Paulo Fashion Week was full of models who were European in appearance.
Jennifer Venditti, a casting director and owner of JV8Inc said some of the models of color are eliminated because of fit or their walk. "A lot of times these girls are being judged on body type by someone of a different ethnicity," she said.
"I have heard rumblings that the girls of color take away from the garments, that they are so fierce and have so much of a persona, you notice them first as opposed to noticing the clothing," said Nick Verreos, a designer who was a contestant on the second season of "Project Runway," admitting that some designers simply would not use models of color.
I think the first reason makes any sense at all, that it's a trend for east European girls in fashion. Ethnic models' persona taking attention away from the designer's clothes is hardly a good enough reason, or else why would they use the cherubic and bubbly Behati Prinsloo??
Liya Kebede launched a beautiful line of children's clothing that is handmade in her native Ethiopia this season called Lemlem, which means "to bloom". Liya will also venture into an acting career soon; Liya Kebede will portray Somalian model Waris Dirie in Desert Flower, which is about Dirie's autobiography about her tragic experience with female circumcision. Kebede has had bit roles in films like Robert DeNiro directed The Good Shepherd and the Nicholas Cage starrer Lord of War.
With a height of 5'10" and a figure of 32-23-35, Liya Kebede is naturally slim. This actually made her look unconventional in Ethiopia where the ideal of women's beauty is curvy and round:
I was the skinny girl and people were saying, "My God, feed her. Do something." And I was like, "I am eating; leave me alone." The funny thing is that now when I go back, I see all the women, and they're all like, "I want to be skinny." Life changes so quickly.
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Liya Kebede is nicknamed Baby Imam, because Imam was also black model from Africa who made it big in the 1970s. Imam is from the neighboring country of Somalia and she too was unconventional looking as she recalls, "I don't look much like the average Somali girls, and they are very beautiful women. They are round girls." While Imam is a Muslim, Liya Kebede is a Coptic Orthodox Christian. Ethiopia used to be a Christian kingdom with very old churches, where Coptic Christians came to settle in the 4th century.
Liya Kebede says she's not a fan of fitness, and in fact hates gym and running, which is an irony since Ethiopia has produced many marathon runners! She loves eating Thai and Ethiopian food, which magically does not show on her skinny body. And one last unconventional fact about Liya: her husband Kassy is 20 years older than her!