Iman Trivia: 27 interesting facts about the facts!

Iman is a Somali fashion model, actress and entrepreneur.

Let’s find out some fun facts about her!

1. Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid was born 25 July 1955 in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

2. She was later renamed Iman at her grandfather’s urging.

3. Iman is the daughter of Marian and Mohamed Abdulmajid.

4. Her father was a diplomat and a former Somali ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and her late mother was a gynecologist.

5. She has four siblings: two brothers, Elias and Feisal, and two younger sisters, Idil and Nadia.

6. Iman lived with her grandparents during her formative years. At the age of four, she was sent to boarding school in Egypt, where she spent most of her childhood and adolescence.

7. Following political unrest in Somalia, Iman’s father moved the family back to the country.

8. At his behest, she, her mother and siblings subsequently traveled to Kenya and were later joined by her father and younger sister. There, she studied political science at the University of Nairobi for a brief period.

9. Iman is Muslim.

10. She is fluent in five languages: Somali, Arabic, Italian, French and English.

11. While still at university, Iman was discovered by American photographer Peter Beard, and subsequently moved to the United States to begin a modeling career.

12. She became a muse for many prominent designers, including Halston, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, Issey Miyake and Donna Karan.

13. A favorite of Yves Saint-Laurent, he once described her as his “dream woman”.

14. After almost two decades of modeling, Iman started her own cosmetics firm in 1994, focusing on difficult-to-find shades for women.

15. Iman twice appeared in Miami Vice, playing Dakotah in Back in the World (1985) and Lois Blyth in Love At First Sight (1988).

16. She also had a guest role as Mrs. Montgomery on the The Cosby Show (1985). In 1988, she appeared as Marie Babineaux on an episode of In the Heat of the Night.

17. In the mid-2000s, Iman spent two years as the host of Bravo TV’s fashion-themed show, Project Runway Canada.

18. A pioneer in the field of ethnic cosmetics, she is also noted for her philanthropic work.

19. Iman made a cameo alongside her husband David Bowie in the 1999 Windows 9.x and Dreamcast 3D adventure game, Omikron: The Nomad Soul. It was developed by the video game company, Quantic Dream.

20. Iman first married at age 18 to a young Somali entrepreneur, a Hilton executive. The marriage ended a few years later when she moved to the United States to pursue a modeling career.

21. In 1977, Iman dated American actor Warren Beatty.

22. Later that year, she got engaged to American basketball player Spencer Haywood. Their daughter, Zulekha Haywood, was born in 1978. The two divorced in February 1987.

23. On 24 April 1992, Iman married English rock musician David Bowie in a private ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland. The wedding was later solemnized on 6 June in Florence, Italy.

24. They have one daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones, born 15 August 2000.

25. Iman is also a stepmother to Bowie’s son from a previous marriage, Duncan Jones. Both children bear Bowie’s legal surname.

26. Iman and her family resided primarily in Manhattan and London.

27. When Bowie died on 10 January 2016, making her a widow, she wrote in tribute to him that “the struggle is real, but so is God.”