Model, icon, beauty entrepreneur and all-around trailblazer Iman graces the July/August cover of ESSENCE, and she does so with style, grace and vulnerability.
In her candid interview with Global Beauty Director Julee Wilson, the 64-year-old talks about how her late husband, the legendary artist David Bowie, inspired her to start IMAN Cosmetics. “He literally did not understand fear,” Iman remembers. “He was in my corner cheering me on every step of the way. If it wasn’t for him, I would never have done it.”
While on the topic, Iman also reveals what she misses most about Bowie: “His sense of humor—he made me laugh every day,” she says. “He was a very curious person, so he made all of us very curious about everything in life.”
Iman and Bowie met on a blind date in 1990 and got married in Tuscany in 1992. The couple welcomed a daughter, Alexandria, in 2000 and remained one of the most beloved (and private) celebrity couples for decades.
Shortly after Alexandria’s birth, the family of three graced the cover of Hello Magazine, where Bowie spoke on his infatuation with his lovely wife. “My attraction to her was immediate and all-encompassing. I couldn’t sleep for the excitement of our first date,” he told the magazine. “That she would be my wife, in my head, was a done deal. I’d never gone after anything in my life with such passion in all my life. I just knew she was The One.”
Shortly after Bowie lost his battle to cancer in 2016, Iman wrote a touching tribute to her late husband. in celebration of their would-be 24th wedding anniversary. “The best part of me is you,” reads a photo of them two of them embracing on a beach.
Iman continues to keep her husband’s legacy alive, especially on social media. The model often posts throwback photos of them together, using the hashtag #BowieForever.
Read more from Iman’s powerful interview in the new issue of ESSENCE magazine on stands now.
