Carole White is a British former model, and co-founder of Premier Model Management.

Early life

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White was born in Deal, Kent in 1950 but raised in Ghana. At the age of five she was sent to a boarding-school in England, then later to a convent in Belgium, an experience she described as repressive but one that helped shape her future career and fuel her interest in modelling. She became a model at the Lucy Clayton Modelling Academy,[1] then decided this career was not for her.[2] Instead she became a booker and in 1970 joined London model agency Bobton's,[3] where she stayed for seven years looking after the early modeling careers of Jo Wood, Andrea Dellal and the Bond girl Tania Mallet.

Premier Model Management

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In 1981, together with her brother Chris Owen, she founded Premier Model Management.[4] Initially representing 40 girls, they ran the agency from their kitchen table.[5] She was Naomi Campbell's agent when the model became the first black woman to make it on the cover of the French Vogue in 1988.[6]

White is a campaigner against racial discrimination in fashion.[7]

In autumn 2010 Premier Model Management allowed television cameras into their offices for the filming of Channel 4's The Model Agency.[8] The seven part documentary followed White and her co-workers for two months revealing what life is really like behind the scenes. It aired in the UK in February 2011.[9] Her contract with Naomi Campbell stopped over a dispute regarding a perfume commercial.[6]

Charles Taylor trial

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In 2010, White testified at the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, alleging that her former client, Naomi Campbell, had accepted blood diamonds from him.[10] In a statement, White says that she remembers Taylor attending the 1997 dinner in South Africa and saying he would like to give diamonds to Campbell.[6][11]

Books

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  • White, Carole (2015). Have I Said Too Much?: My Life In and Out of The Model Agency. Century. ISBN 978-1780890722.

References

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  1. ^ Danielle (2011-02-25). "A Stellar Performance: Carole White". Premiermodelstyle.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  2. ^ "Carole White: the outspoken model agent". Fashion.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  3. ^ "Carole White". www.themodelagency.tv. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  4. ^ "Carole White". Themodelagency.tv. 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  5. ^ "Carole White - the models' mum | Life & Style". Archived from the original on 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  6. ^ a b c Day, Elizabeth (2015-02-15). "Carole White: 'The fashion business is cruel. Everyone is greedy for the new face'". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  7. ^ "The Model Agency - Interviews - Interview with Carole White". Channel 4. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  8. ^ "Carole White - the models' mum". Evening Standard. 2011-03-14. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  9. ^ "Carole White: The Model Maker". Reviewmagazine.org.uk. 2011-03-11. Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  10. ^ "Former agent Carole White: Naomi Campbell flirted with Charles Taylor". bbc.co.uk. 2010-08-09. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  11. ^ Schecter, Anna (2010-04-23). "Prosecution Asks To Subpoena Naomi Campbell In War Crimes Trial Because of New Evidence of 'Blood Diamond' Gift". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2020-02-17.