The Guardian did an article about models breaking moulds, and Jourdan was one of the models featured:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/2012/mar/02/models-breaking-mould
Meet the models breaking the mould
Bring on the wrinkles... and the spare tyre and the brains, too. Because you don't have to be a silly, skinny teenager to make it in modelling these days
…
The black model: Jourdan Dunn
Photograph: Camera Press
When Jourdan Dunn was 16, she and some friends were in Primark, mucking around trying on sunglasses, when Dunn noticed a woman staring. "She kept looking at us, and I got a bit paranoid that she thought we were going to steal them. But then she asked if I'd ever thought about modelling." The scout gave Dunn a card and told her to call her agency. "It was Storm and I knew they represented Kate Moss. As soon as she'd gone, I called my mum. I was screaming. She was screaming. I couldn't believe it."
That was six years ago, and today Dunn is an established cover girl, catwalk star and face of Burberry. When we speak, she's in the middle of Milan fashion week. Today she did a Fendi show, had a casting and two fittings. "It was pretty chilled – sometimes I finish at midnight and have a 6am call the next morning."
As one of the few black supermodels, Dunn is pleased to see more models of colour at the shows these days. "There are loads of new black faces on the runways, which is a great thing. When I started out, it was different. I did experience some issues with the colour of my skin – I used to get a list of castings and there would be notes saying they just wanted blondes. I think hair and make-up played a part – obviously, black hair and skin are different, and some stylists don't know what to do with it. Maybe they're scared it won't look good." As she was about to go into one casting, her agent called and said, "Turn back – they decided they don't want any black models."
But Dunn had a breakthrough in 2008 when she became the first black model to walk a Prada runway in more than a decade. "I was really nervous because everyone was hyping it, but Prada are famous for pulling you out of shows at the last minute, so backstage I was waiting for them to tap me on the shoulder and tell me I wasn't going on. On the runway I wasn't thinking about following in Naomi's footsteps, I was thinking about not falling over."
That year the teenager from Ealing also made the cover of the historic "black issue" of Italian Vogue, shot by Steven Meisel, alongside Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks. Does she resent such special treatment? "I understand the arguments against, but I think it was a step forward. After that, you did see more black models in Vogue."
Still, she concedes, there seemed to be a belief in the industry that there was room for only one black face at the top, an idea that almost ended her friendship with fellow supermodel Chanel Iman. "It was weird because, [in] my first season, she came up to me and said, 'It's really good seeing another black model doing good.' But then she had people in her ear, saying, 'Stay away from Jourdan, because she's trying to steal your spot', and I had people in my ear saying, 'Don't trust Chanel', and after a while we just stopped talking. We weren't horrible to each other, but we stopped telling each other what we'd been booked for."
But they became sick of being pitted against each other. "We just sat down and said, 'This is so stupid.' I hate it that people feel black models have to be nasty to each other."
In 2009, Dunn became pregnant. "I was thinking, 'This baby is going to ruin my career.' But then I thought, 'I want this baby. We're going to have to make it work.' "
Single motherhood didn't prove to be the career death she'd feared. In fact, when she was seven months pregnant, Jean Paul Gaultier cast her in his show. "He made a special look for me – a shield around my bump. Everyone had fake tattoos, and mine was 'Jourdan plus one'."
Her son is now two, and Dunn's mother looks after him when she's away working. Travelling, she says, is both the best and worst part of the job. "Being away from my son kills me, but I do get to go to amazing places. The other annoying things are the lack of sleep and the rubbish catering. I will scream if I see another sandwich. I'm a food lover. My family are Jamaican and I grew up in the kitchen. I am not a snacker, I like to have a proper meal, but at the shows I have to grab what I can."
Dunn says she's never been pressured by her agency to lose weight; if anything, it has been the other way around. "I am naturally thin. My dad was 6ft 5in and skinny as a stick, and I'm the same. But I find my metabolism annoying. I'd like a bit more weight on me."
What makes a good model, and whom do you admire?
Personality plays a much bigger role now than it did. Someone I'd look up to would be Naomi – she's a black girl from London, and so am I.
What have you eaten today?
For breakfast I had a couple of strawberries, a banana and a cup of tea. Lunch was a McChicken sandwich. After that, I had some chocolate. And in a minute I'm going for dinner – I'm looking forward to a nice steak and fries. I like an occasional glass of wine, though I don't drink before a shoot or a show – blotchy skin is not a good idea, however good your make-up artist.
What was your worst job?
It's not much fun standing around for hours in shoes that don't fit.
What is the worst thing anybody has said to you?
A make-up artist said, "I don't feel comfortable doing her make-up because I'm white and she's black." Then she started doing it anyway and I said, "I'd rather you didn't."
Would you recommend modelling to your children?
That's a tough one. If you're young and going around New York on your own, it can be really scary. It can damage you. Getting told at a young age that you're too skinny or have big hips could kill your self-esteem. So, no, not under 16. And I'd want to be there with them every minute.
Who is your favourite designer?
I love Burberry. I love their collection this season – I walked it and it's really wearable. The other designers I like are the same: Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Alexander Wang, Isabel Marant.
• Interview by Liese Spencer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/2012/mar/02/models-breaking-mould
