‘Donyale Luna: Supermodel’ shines a light on the first Black model to grace cover of Vogue

NEW YORK — As the first Black model to grace the cover of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, a muse to Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali and a film star, Donyale Luna’s life story was ready made for Hollywood. So how did the statuesque beauty who broke down barriers go unknown for years?

A new documentary on her life sheds light on that, unearthing the racism she faced in the fashion industry and the high-profile gatekeepers who tried to stop her career. “Donyale Luna: Supermodel,” streaming now on Max, is a powerful retelling of the life and death of the otherworldly supermodel who captivated the fashion world when white beauty standards were the only standards and 1960s America was rife with racial inequality.

Luna’s daughter, Dream Cazzaniga, narrates her mother’s diaries, allowing the model’s complexities to be revealed.

While many reached out in the past to tell her mother’s story, Cazzaniga said director Nailah Jefferson and the producers were able to help her tell her mother’s story in a way that was in tune with her personality and creativity, allowing her true voice to finally be heard.

Luna died in 1979 when Cazzaniga was only 18 months old of heart failure due to drug-related complications. For Cazzaniga, the documentary was a cathartic process for her to gain a greater understanding of her mother.

“I really felt it was about time and that her story needed to be known,” she said.

Born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit, Luna was scouted at 14 in her hometown by British photographer David McCabe. At age 19, she would leave behind her tough childhood and move to New York. Three months later, she was on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. Rather than present her as the beautiful brown skinned woman she was, the magazine portrayed her as a drawing with peachy light skin.