Louise Afran

BMW: Louise... Why modeling?
Nothing brings me more pleasure than strutting down a catwalk draped beautifully in handcrafted pieces, showcasing a natural talent to model. As a child I can remember creating fashion shows in my living room, displaying my mother's wardrobe of over sized shoes and summer dresses, posing at every opportunity and loving the attention from my family. As I grew up I maintained my passion for performance in front of others and have desired to be a successful catwalk model ever since.

The first agency I approached aged 17 told me "black doesn't sell" and as a result I reluctantly placed my aspirations aside and focused on my scientific career and impending university place. Now as a grown proud black woman, I realize there is room in the industry for models of all colors, and I intend to fill it.

BMW: How long have you been modeling?
Louise: Since university when I was asked to model for a student fashion show, I love the excitement of performing in front of other people, especially showcasing beautiful couture pieces, so I didn't look back.

BMW: What has been the best job so far?
Louise: Being relatively new to the industry, the best job so far has been shooting with Ftv, just enjoying making beautiful pictures. My ultimate job would be catwalk for a top designer like Ghost, as I adore the femininity of their pieces.

BMW: How has it been mixing modeling and college?
Louise: At times it has been very hard and even painful. On more than one occasion I have had to pass up huge opportunities that at the time seemed as though they were once in a lifetime opportunities. I have passed up going to Europe two or three times, a few tv shows, like the Tyra Banks show, some big bookings, a commercial or two but the one that hurt the most was when I was asked to do "Make Me a Supermodel 2" on Bravo. The casting director called me himself, but I couldn't because of school. But I look at it like this, if it's meant for me to have I'll have it. If not, I won't, so I just go with the flow.

BMW: What do you hope to achieve in modeling?
I hope to carve myself a successful and profitable career in modeling. I'll do whatever it takes without compromising my strong ethics.

BMW: Is your family supporting you?
Louise: My mother is very happy and my father is bemused, however both have given me encouragement if it makes me happy.

BMW: Do you have to travel far to model?
I travel in to London everyday for work and castings which is approximately 50 minutes on the train.

BMW: How do you feel about Mahogany's Black BUT Invisible campaign? Have you seen it?
I resonate strongly with the opinion that black is invisible in this industry and I am completely and totally behind the fight to make people aware of the "pink elephant in the room".

BMW: How do you feel about being an ethnic model in the industry? Is it harder? Is it easier for you?
Louise:I definitely believe it is harder for black models to make a name for themselves in Modeling. The industry believes black is not aesthetically pleasing or desirable by the majority of consumers. They assume the consumers to be white affluent middle class British, and thus pick their models to reflect accordingly. As designers are promoting their product to maximize profit they base their decision with this in mind. This exacerbates and encourages the cycle that prevent black models from ever reaching the equality in modeling they deserve. Every Iman, Naomi and Tyson is another light to follow down a very dark tunnel. Every black female and male model has to fight for every job they want, myself included, but I believe it's important to continue the fight... until we succeed!