British supermodel Jourdan Dunn has hit out at the racism in the modelling industry, and said she gets paid less than white models because of her “skin tone”.
She claimed her friend and fellow British model Cara Delevingne, along with American pal Karlie Kloss, earn more money for “the same” jobs.
The 30-year-old beauty walked her first runway aged just 15 after being discovered in a Primark in Hammersmith back in 2006.
She has since worked with mega brands including Prada, Burberry and Calvin Klein. She was the first black model to walk a Prada runway in over a decade in 2008.
The supermodel was also the first black British model to make the Forbes Models Rich List back in 2014.
But appearing on the TTYA Talks podcast, Jourdan wasn’t afraid to call out the glaring inconsistencies in the industry.
(Image: DIGITAL/EROTEME.CO.UK)
“Even for me now it’s just owning your voice and knowing your worth.
“I remember the girls I came up with, like my best friends in the industry, Cara [Delevingne] and Karlie [Kloss], I know their rate was different to my rate, even though we were doing the same jobs.
“When I think about that it’s so f****d up, like what is the difference?”
Jourdan continued: “But clearly the difference is the skin tone.
(Image: DIGITAL/EROTEME.CO.UK)
“But now I know my worth and I’m going to ask for it.”
She opened up about how she wants to give others a hand up in the industry, and chatted about championing “black young creatives.”
“Now when I have the creative direction of being able to choose who I want on shoots, I always make sure I bring on black young creatives,” she shared.
(Image: Getty Images)
“If you have an audience, it’s important to speak out if you have something to say, but be mindful about the way in which it comes across.”
She has long since been an advocate for more diverse representation in the modelling industry, and in her second season in 2008 said: “London’s not a white city, so why should our catwalks be so white?”
In an emotional open letter penned last September, Jourdan worried that the “injustice and brutality” against black people would “break” her son Riley’s “kind and loving spirit.”
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Riley, 11, had previously pleaded with Jourdan not to go to America for her modelling career as “it’s not safe”, according to The Times.
“At times, I’ve felt helpless finding the right way to comfort you while I myself am in pain,” Jourdan wrote in the letter.
“It’s my mission to instil you with the greatest examples of affection, nurture and care.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
