Supermodel Naomi Campbell has paid tribute to Yves Saint Laurent following his death this week, saying the French fashion legend had a huge role in promoting black models.
Campbell, 37, told Britain's Channel 4 News that Saint Laurent, who died yesterday of a brain tumour at his Paris home, had "done so much for people of colour".
"My first Vogue cover ever was because of this man," she said.
"When I said to him 'Yves, they won't give me a French Vogue cover, they won't put a black girl on the cover' and he was like, 'I'll take care of that', and he did."
Campbell said Saint Laurent, who dominated the international couture scene from the 1960s until his retirement in 2002, revolutionized women's wardrobes.
"He was the king of fashion. He created pret-a-porter, he was the first designer to put women of colour on the runway; he was extremely important in my career, giving me one of my first jobs," she said.
"He has done everything, he's done it; if you go to the museum you will see he has done it all. He has done so much for people of colour."
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Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated.
