RIP Naomi Sims

Naomi Sims, often called the first black supermodel, has died at age 61.

Naomi Sims, whose appearance as the first black model on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal in November 1968 was a consummate moment of the Black is Beautiful movement, and who went on to design successful collections of wigs and cosmetics for black women under her name, died Saturday in Newark. She was 61 and lived in Newark.

..."Naomi was the first [black supermodel]," the designer Halston told The New York Times in 1974. "She was the great ambassador for all black people. She broke down all the social barriers."

Ms. Sims often said childhood insecurities and a painful upbringing — living in foster homes, towering over her classmates and living in a largely poor white neighborhood in Pittsburgh — had inspired her to strive to become "somebody really important" at a time when cultural perceptions of black Americans were being challenged by the civil rights movement and a renewed stress on racial pride.

Sims was a trailblazer in the truest sense, creating opportunities for herself when none were offered, and eventually became a successful model "in high demand, modeling for top designers like Halston, Teal Traina, Fernando Sánchez and Giorgio di Sant'Angelo, and standing at the vanguard of a fashion movement for black models that would give rise to runway stars of the 1970s, including Pat Cleveland, Alva Chinn and Beverly Johnson."

After five years, she gave up modeling and started a wig-making business with styles designed for black women. It eventually expanded into a multimillion-dollar beauty empire and at least five books on modeling and beauty.

RIP Ms. Sims.