People called me 'Iman the black model'. In my country, we're all black, so nobody called somebody else black. It was foreign to my ears.

I don't want to be known as the black model. I want to be recognized as Chanel Iman, a personality.

Nobody has ever said to me that I was pretty, 'til I met Peter Beard.

Italian was my first foreign language. I speak it better than English.

This country has really moved on to a more multicultural way of thinking, ... I just want to celebrate the women. Sure this is all about makeup, but it's also about some other things that are more deeply rooted. I just want to open a dialogue where we can talk about these things, where we can define our own beauty and approve of ourselves. We have to approve of ourselves before anyone else will. Women need to celebrate their God-given beauty instead of always trying to be something else.

I was not considered beautiful at all. Really. And this is what all models say. But I'm still not considered that beautiful in my country. I don't know the beauty ideal where I come from - but it's not me.