Chanel Iman by Ben Hassett for Violet Grey.

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Chanel Iman by Ben Hassett for Violet Grey.
A name like Chanel Iman isn’t suited for everyone. (Actuaries, headmistresses, and Supreme Court justices spring to mind). But in this instance, the name and the model who answers to it are the perfect match. Charming, beautiful and always ready with a smile, the 23-year-old model captured the fashion world’s imagination eight years ago, and she’s showing no signs of slowing down, or even pausing to catch her breath.
Born Chanel Iman Robinson, the Los Angeles native always dreamed of being a model. At an age when most children still don’t know how to tie their shoes, she was practicing her runway saunter and devising outfits that would stand out among her classmates. “I wanted to have the best look,” she says. “And, little fashionista that I was, I usually did.”
By 15, she’d blossomed into a bona fide head-turner with a beauty that evoked both lissome grace and fresh-scrubbed wholesomeness. A third place win that year in the 2006 Ford Supermodel contest catapulted her into the spotlight and — virtually overnight — she found herself among the most sought after faces in the industry, with campaigns for Bottega Veneta, Ralph Lauren and Victoria’s Secret (who anointed her an Angel in 2010). “I missed my prom to go to the Met Ball,” she recalls of those heady ingénue years. “But it was worth it.”
Today, Chanel is as busy as ever. When not on a fashion shoot (yes, that’s her dancing the tango with A$AP Rocky in the September Vogue), she’s started exploring the realm of dramatic arts. “I definitely want to do some film and television,” she explains, with her signature self-assurance. “That’s my next journey — to be a great actress.”
For her VIOLET GREY photo shoot, Chanel put her acting skills to good use, channeling style icons Bianca Jagger, Josephine Baker, and Linda Evangelista in a character study of lost glamour.
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