Pat Cleveland was one of the first black supermodels to gain prominence as a runway and print model.
Cleveland was born in New York City on June 23, 1952, to father Johnny Johnston a white jazz saxophonist, and her mother Ladybird, a painter who was of African American and Native American descent.
Cleveland attended LaGuardia High School of Art and Design, where her first love was fashion. By the age of fourteen, she was designing and wearing her own creations.
In 1966, Clevelands outfit caught the attention of Carrie Donovan, a fashion editor from Vogue. She was invited to tour the office and was later featured in the magazine as a young and up-and-coming designer.
Her appearance in Vogue led her to other opportunities. She was invited to model for Ebonys annual Fashion Fair runway tour. While on tour with Ebony, Cleveland had experienced a lot of racism while in the south. Though she could easily pass for white, she still could not escape the racism.
After working with Ebony, Cleveland began to attract the attention of some major fashion designers. She was recommended to Ford Models by designer Oleg Cassini. Unfortunately, she was meet with skepticism by Co-founder Eileen Ford. Cleveland was told that she would never make it in the modeling business because there was simply no work for colored girls.
In 1970 she decided to take a chance and try her luck in Europe. After being invited by fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez. Cleveland made it known that she would never return until US Vogue printed its first black cover. While overseas, her modeling career took off. Cleveland worked with designers such as Valentino, Christian Dior, Oscar de la Renta, and Yves Saint Laurent among others.
Four years later, Vogue put model Beverly Johnson on the cover of their August 1974 issue, making her the first black model to appear on the magazine cover. Cleveland returned to the states and continued her modeling career. She went on to appear in countless fashion spreads and magazine covers.
