Tyra Banks

In 1997 Tyra Banks became the first African American chosen for the cover of the Victoria's Secret catalog, and the same year she signed on as an Angel, a contract she kept until 2005. She wore two Fantasy Bras, walked the Fashion Show from its second edition, and in 2024 came out of runway retirement to close the relaunched show.

Twenty-five shows in Paris

Banks was born on December 4, 1973, in Inglewood, California, and started modeling at 15 while at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. Four agencies turned her down before L.A. Models signed her; she moved to Elite Model Management at 16. In her first runway season, the 1991 Paris collections, she booked 25 shows.

She worked for Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Calvin Klein and many more, and broke two barriers in print: she was the first Black woman on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and the first African American woman on the cover of GQ. VH1 named her Supermodel of the Year in 1997.

The catalog and the contract

At its peak the catalog was mailed out by the hundreds of millions a year, so its cover was prime real estate. Putting a Black model on it in 1997 was a commercial decision as much as a symbolic one.

Two Fantasy Bras

Banks walked the second show, in 1996, and every show through 2003, then again in 2005. The Fantasy Bra came to her twice. The 1997 Diamond Dream Bra was valued at $3 million and appeared in the catalog, not on the runway. The 2004 Heavenly "70" Fantasy Bra, valued at $10 million, also missed the runway, because that year's show was cancelled after the Super Bowl halftime controversy. At the 1999 show she wore the 1996 Million Dollar Miracle Bra. Only Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima have worn more Fantasy Bras; Gisele Bündchen, Karolína Kurková and Alessandra Ambrosio share her count of two. After Selita Ebanks in 2007, no Black model wore one again until Jasmine Tookes in 2016.

Television

In 2003 she created America's Next Top Model, which she executive produced and presented for 22 seasons. The Tyra Banks Show ran from 2005 to 2010 and won two Daytime Emmy Awards. In 2012 she completed Harvard Business School's nine-week Owner/President Management program, an executive course often misreported as an MBA, and in 2014 she founded a cosmetics brand, Tyra Beauty.

Back on the runway

In 2019 she returned to modeling on one of three Sports Illustrated Swimsuit covers, her third, 22 years after her first. In 2024 she walked the revived Victoria's Secret Fashion Show as its closing model, nearly three decades after her first appearance on that runway. She and Naomi Campbell, who opened that 1996 show, were both in its lineup; Banks is one of very few from that night to walk the revival.

Last updated October 7, 2026