Leomie Anderson is a model, an entrepreneur and an activist in equal measure. Scouted on her way home from school in South West London at just 14, Leomie walked her first show for Marc Jacobs three years later. Now, ten years on, the global notoriety Leomie has garnered in the fashion industry has given her a platform that most could only dream of. She has been quick to put it to good use.
Leomie has given TED Talks, spoken at both Oxford Univerisity and Cambridge University and launched her brand LAPP The Brand - all things that Forbes likely ticked off when they spotlighted her in their 2020 30 Under 30 roster. Here, Leomie speaks exclusively to Grazia’s beauty editor Annie Vischer about the reality of life as a Black model, the problematic nature of the make-up and hair industry today, and details of LAPP Festival, her very first Instagram based weekender that kicks off on 19th June and runs through Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st.
The Reality Backstage
The first time I heard of Leomie Anderson was via 2011’s reality TV show The Model Agency, a fly-on-the-wall documentary that followed her London agency Premier and trained its cameras on the very beginnings of her career. As a young white girl I sat at home and watched each episode starry-eyed. I lapped up what appeared to be a fairytale in motion, the story of a beautiful teen plucked from obscurity and thrown into a whirl of Polaroids, castings and travel. I was jealous and entirely ignorant to the hardships that were lined up to flood Leomie’s way as soon as a shoot day began or another Fashion Week kicked off in earnest.
‘One of the most poignant experiences I can recall took place backstage at a show during New York Fashion Week a few years ago now.' Says Leomie. 'The make-up artist put her hand up to say that she was free to do my make-up but when I sat in the chair and looked at all the foundations that she had laid out, I realised that there was only one foundation out of around 30 or more that was even close to the colour of my complexion, and even then it was far too light. She began trying to mix it with eyeshadows, with other foundations, and I asked her whether she had any make-up products with her that would work for my skin tone. She said no.’
As a Black model you can't just be and exist, you always have to be aware of the fact that things are going to be harder for you
‘Instead of getting angry in that moment I brought out my own make-up kit. As a Black model I feel that it’s imperative to always carry a basic kit with me. I walked her through how to do my make-up and used it as an opportunity to educate, but in the same breath, it shouldn’t have been that way. I shouldn’t have had to bring my own make-up, I shouldn’t have had to take time to teach someone about something that they’re paid to do. That’s the reality. It’s something that happens often on set. Even recently I’ve had issues with make-up artists who are unable to do make-up for Black skin.’
'As a Black model you can’t just be and exist, you always have to be aware of the fact that things are going to be harder for you. You have to know that you might enter into spaces that don’t actually want you there and you always have to come prepared to do things yourself and bite your tongue in certain situations. Sometimes when you speak up people are quick to say "you’re aggressive" or "you’re a diva". I have got past the point of biting my tongue now but I know that a lot of models in the industry find themselves in that position. They’ll end up running to the toilets to cry, I myself was in that place in my teens and I don’t want that for the next generation of Black models.'
Shoot Day
Whilst The Model Agency glorified Leomie's entry into the fashion world, her own account of a typical shoot day for a Black model highlights everything that is still out of kilter in the industry. 'You feel like you’re a second thought when you walk onto set. You already know that you’re most likely going to be the only Black model there on that day. You have that invisible marker on you. You sit down to get your make-up done and find out that the team are not prepared for your skin tone. Meanwhile there's a white model next to you looking beautiful and glamorous. She’s been having her hair and make-up done for two hours and yours takes a matter of ten minutes because they have no products for you. It’s incredibly demoralising. Next you walk onto set and realise that the way the photographer has lit the shot is centred around making the white model look the best they can. The final shots reflect that.'
'When I first started modelling make-up artists would tell me I had such great skin that I didn’t need foundation. I’d be so happy, I was so naïve. I didn’t understand that they were only saying that because they didn't have any products for me. I’d wonder at the time why, if my skin was so great, the pictures weren’t turning out well. Under synthetic light you have to have some form of coverage. It was a real learning curve for me. I realised very quickly that I was working in a world that didn’t accommodate Black people, but wanted to use Black people every now and then to tick a box.'
The Big Hair Problem
'I was once backstage at a fashion show in Milan and I told a renowned hairdresser, someone who is still well-known to this day, that a product that he wanted to put in my hair would make it frizz. The look they were after was super smooth and straight. He went off at me. He called me a bitch, he told me that he was going to end my career. He shouted at me in front of more than 100 people. Only one person came to defend me. Everyone else waited until he was out of the room to come and ask whether I was OK. I was just 18 years old and that experience stuck with me. It made me realise the lack of protection out there for young models like me in the fashion industry. That’s the moment I realised that if no one was ever going to speak up for me, I had to speak up for myself.'
'When I was starting out as a model I'd always carry a basic kit with me and that would include a hair oil and a hairspray made specifically for Black hair. Often the go-to hairsprays backstage act like glue on Black hair. If you have Black hair you can’t simply wash products like that out. Sometimes a product as basic as hairspray can damage Black hair with a single coat because of the amount of alcohol that’s in there.'
I once lost at least two inches from hair in a month solely because of the treatment of my hair backstage at shows
'Working Fashion Week during the first two seasons of your career is traumatic as a Black model. You can end up doing three or four shows in one day and likely be styled by people who just don’t care about your hair. That’s from day one. Fashion Week lasts for a month. I have seen girls start with healthy hair and end up, at the end of Paris Fashion Week, with it in such a bad state that it’s breaking off. That’s exactly what happened to me. I once lost at least two inches from hair in a month solely because of the treatment of my hair backstage at shows. Imagine how demoralising it is when fashion week’s over and a client says to you "Oh wow! You need to look after your hair better" or "Oh wow! Your hair is short!", especially when the damage is no fault of your own.'
Change Is Long Overdue
'I just don’t understand why things haven’t changed already. I can’t say when I think they will, I'd hoped that by now I wouldn't be seeing Black models still posting about the same set of circumstances. These are circumstances that should be really easy to change. There are so many things that are going to take a long time to undo, dismantle and unlearn in this world. Hair and make-up to me is easy. If you have non-Black hairdressers or make-up artists that can’t do a job, hire Black hairdressers or make-up artists that can.'
Let's Talk LAPP
Leomie Anderson founded LAPP The Brand in 2016. It started life as a website. 'I wanted to be a safe space online where girls could read articles from real women on any topic and know that it’s free from bias. I wanted LAPP to be a place in which women could be free, express themselves and both share and gain information.'
LAPP soon expanded into fashion. 'I see fashion as a universal language. You can see a particular person’s face on a T-shirt and know what they are trying to communicate. I began with a T-shirt collection with different phrases that women could use to say no to guys, I called that the Consent Collection. I kept dropping capsule collections and it became more visible and began to stand for something the more prominent figures wore it.'
What's next? LAPP Festival. 'LAPP Festival is something that I have been working on now for just over a month. It’s going to be an online weekender hosted on Instagram and curated by myself. You will see an array of interviews, workouts and Instagram Lives with some of our favourite women. There's an interview with Gabrielle Union talking about her experiences, how crazy her life was in her 20s. We have one with Hailey Bieber in which we talk about how she grew up, fame and how her faith helps her. I feel like when people interiew Hailey they don’t try to get to know her as a person. Her religion and her faith are so important to her. I wanted to give her the chance to express that. She speaks about her relationship with Justin and he makes a little guest appearance. It’s a really refreshing take on things. All you have to do is follow LAPP on Instagram, everything’s going to be on there via IGTV and Instagram Lives and by Monday everything will be uploaded to LAPP’s YouTube channel too.'
What's Next For Leomie And LAPP?
'It's very important to me that LAPP is a completely Black owned business. It means so much to have 100% control of my brand. LAPP shows other Black girls that you don’t need to change who you are or behave a different way to be successful and to have a brand. For too long we have been told that we need to act a certain way, speak in a certain way or do our hair in a certain way to be accepted. It’s very important to me that LAPP represents being yourself, being unapologetically Black, and being successful.'
My mission is to be the biggest baddest and boldest version of myself
'In 10 years time I want LAPP to be bigger than Gym Shark and Lululemon. I have an amazing product and I work very hard on its quality. For example, I don’t just want to provide bigger sizes, I want to ensure those sizes are tailored for a curvier woman. I want LAPP to be an inclusive destination for women who have more to say, who want to feel empowered and want to look really good whilst they do it.'
As for Leomie's personal mission? 'My mission is to be the biggest baddest and boldest version of myself. There have been too many times that I’ve felt like I couldn’t speak up, that I couldn’t have a voice. The only person that was hurting was me. The only person that could remedy it was me. My mission is to show other young girls out there that you can be yourself, be a boss, be on the cover of magazines, and be on the cover of Forbes. You can be everything and you can be yourself.'
READ MORE: Clara Amfo: 'Being A Joyous Black Person Is Radical'