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'I don't worry about ageing... I come from Africa, we celebrate getting older' - Model Iman on ageing

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  • Iconic model, Iman told British Vogue, that she is not worried about ageing.
  • She says the obsession with ageing is a western mentality because in Africa, we celebrate getting older.
  • She also shared that she lied about her age when she moved to the US and didn't finish her Political Science education.


The 67-year-old model - who was born in Mogadishu in Somalia - believes that the obsession with ageing is "a very Western mentality".

"I come from Africa, we celebrate getting older. A friend was telling me there’s been a rise in cosmetic surgery, all because people have been looking at themselves in Zoom meetings. I’m like, ‘If you are worried about that, just put the camera up so it’s tilted down on your face, for God’s sake!'"

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By contrast, Iman insists that it's not something she's ever worried about.

She told British Vogue magazine, "This really is a mentality rooted in the West. For me, it has never been a problem."

Iman believes that everything in her life is predestined.

The model - who was married to music icon David Bowie until his death in 2016 - shared, "I don’t plan things. As I get older, I don’t think anything’s by chance. It’s all predestined."

Meanwhile, Iman previously admitted that she didn't think she had a chance of succeeding in the fashion industry during her teens. The catwalk star also recalled lying about her age so she could fly from Kenya to the US.

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"My mother had no idea I was leaving. To get a passport to leave the country I needed a signature from both my parents, but I faked it and said I was already 18.

"I didn’t think I had a chance to become a model, so I thought I would go to the US and then go back in a couple of months before my parents would know I left," she said.

"I came to the US and the first thing that was written about me was a week later in Newsweek the only magazine my father reads and they were mortified, of course, that I lied my way out of the country, was on my own and I didn’t finish my Political Science education."

The full feature with Iman is available in the January issue of British Vogue.

Sources: People, British Vogue



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