As I have stated kiddingly
and then again not so kiddingly, here I am sitting with the cool kids ….
finally. So many of the people that I’ve
interviewed and met crossed my path during this present iteration of my life
were HUGE fashion giants in the heyday of printed media. Some were models, some
were hair and makeup people, some were editors and lastly some were photographers.
These people were the names I grew up with… and that doesn’t mean that they are
any older than I but it just means while I was cutting my teeth in the world of
fashion these people were already megastars of this wildly glamorous and
aspirational world I have come to know and live.
Renauld, or Renny as he was once familiarly known, was a He was the first
African American model to appear on the cover of GQ magazine. the first African American male
model to endorse "White"
Men's hair products (Vitalis). Lastly,
he was the first African American
male model to work for American designers
Bill Blass, Calvin
Klein, Ralph Lauren, Jeffrey
Banks, and Donna Karan. While magazines like Vogue and Harpers Bazaar were
already launching careers of African American female models, GQ was the bible
of menswear that launched multi-decade careers of some of the most ubiquitous
men of fashion. Renauld is one of them! |
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So now sitting at “my table” is one of
the coolest kids of the lot for reasons already stated by me and for those
stated by the man himself, so here is Renauld White in his own words…..
Jeffrey Felner: What
came before your present situation or in other words… some personal history.
Renauld White: When I graduated high school in New
Jersey in 1962 I had to go to work right away, I couldn't afford college and I
was the sole financial support for my mother and my sibling. Within a week I
found a job as a teller at the Howard Savings Bank. Almost immediately
after that, I found out about a job as a clerk at Western Electric in Kearney
NJ. It was not a stressful job and allowed me to build my clerking skills. The
job at Western Electric (I left the bank after a week) left me free to pursue nighttime
courses at Rutgers. And it was at Rutgers that I began to meet an
eclectic group of friends that ultimately would include FI.T alums Roz
Rubinstein, Stephen Burrows, and the male model Jeff Blynn. My friends and I would
go to the Palladium on Sunday nights for Latin dancing wearing clothes we
bought at Newark thrift shops and re-fashioned as our own. I was a big kid
(see overweight) initially, in high school, and it wasn't until I was
forced onto the football team by Coach Higgins that I started to become interested
in exercise, proper diet, and losing weight. Eating whole grains and vegetables,
something stressed by my mother, and seeing the pounds start to melt away gave
me the confidence to buy my first pair of bell-bottoms. Seeing my
transformation, Jeff, who was an established model, suggested that I should try
my hand at modeling by going to see Tom Fallon at Bill Blass who was holding an
open casting for models. Tom liked my looks but was concerned when I said that
I had no model representation. As I was already in the city, I found out
the address of Ford Models and marched right in, and was promptly discouraged
by head booker Jenna, who was put off by my lack of experience and the fact
that I did not fit into standard size model's clothing. There was also the
issue of my large afro and the scar across my nose. But she did offer this caveat:
Wilhelmina Cooper, the legendary former Ford model, had started her own
fledgling agency and might, just might, be interested in seeing me. Not wanting
to waste the trip into NY, I looked up the address and phone number of Wilhelmina
Models and walked the few blocks to the agency. Not wanting to risk another
rejection, which I thought might be because I was black, I marched right in and
claimed that I was from the NAACP and was checking to see how racially diverse
the agency was. Fearing a commotion in their waiting room, I was quickly
ushered into a private office where I was told that my brusque manner and lack
of conservative dress might be off-putting to potential clients. "Go away
and cut your hair, and come back in quieter clothes and maybe there is a
possibility we will hire you." Securing an overnight stay at a friend’s
house, I found a barber bought some new collegiate clothes and went back the very
next day...and Wilhelmina’s associate offered me a contract, on the spot. The
rest, as they say, was history.
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My first runway
fashion show was for Bill Blass on February 25th, 1970, walking along with
established models like Peter Stanley and Uva Harden. I even landed a picture
in Daily News Record (DNR), the newspaper bible for the menswear industry.
JF: Being a
a groundbreaking model with a history such as yours is a rarity ... what advice
would you give an aspiring model today?
RW: My advice would be, find role models you
identify with. Focus on these inspirational individuals, taking from them
the things that make them special, and then try to become an individual yourself!
I always loved Marlon Brando and Malcolm X. These men gave me hope that one day
I could excel in my chosen field like they did.
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RW: #1 would be Jesus Christ for obvious reasons
followed by Leonardo da Vinci; I think he was phenomenal as a renaissance
man, his many gifts enlightened the world in a time of darkness and I can never
learn enough about him. Next up is Mrs.
O'Sullivan, my high school art teacher, who not only believed in me but who
gave me many words of wisdom that I still follow today and last but not least my
original ancestor from Africa, who crossed the ocean in 1619 and landed in
Florida. I'd love to talk to him or her.
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JF: What
would you say was the high-water watermark of your modeling career
and why? What's your take on the so-called Instagram models of today?
RW: The first time in 1977, I was acknowledged
with an award from a black organization, saying that I had made a
significant difference because of the color of my skin, letting other men of
color know that making a difference was a distinct possibility; also when the
Mayor of Newark along with Senator Cory Booker celebrated my 50 years as a groundbreaking model by declaring a Special Proclamation.
As far as today's
Insta-models are concerned, I am different. I don't want to be all things
to all people. I believe in a little mystery, I like shading and nuance. I
don't want to put it all out there in a post.
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JF: If you
could choose any collaboration, who or what would that be and why?
RW: It would be as a Coach and mentor, which
I am already doing, in the field of karate. As young men mature, lifting
weights may not still be possible, however, karate continues to give the body
both flexibility and strength and I think practicing it is the key to my
physical well-being today. I am proud to now being able to coach others about
what I have learned from this sport, along with proper rest and constant exercise.
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