Lets celebrate one of the original Black female superstar iconic models Alva Chinn. She takes us a fanciful journey from her humble model beginnings in Boston to the legendary Battle of Versailles where she was amongst a group of pioneering Black models who revolutionized the runway and fashion industry. Her legendary introduction to Halston, exclusive nights at Studio 54 to the hypnotic Paradise Garage, that sexy iconic Chic cover and to most recently making the Guinness Book of World Records. With fashion always looking to the past Ambassador Digital Magazine captures Alva Chinn’s modern renaissance with some of the best BIPOC designers.
MUSA: Who were some of your fashion influencers growing up?
ALVA: I didn’t have any. ( laughs) I come from Boston, which was rather conservative. I will say around age twelve.l made a jumper without a pattern. It came out pretty good so I wore it.
MUSA: So you were your own fashion influencer. Was sewing something you did or was it just a hobby?
ALVA: My father had an old singer sewing machine. I didn’t have a real fashion thing going for me. It wasn’t until I saw Stephen Burrows , the legendary Black designer in Look magazine. That was in the late sixties. I was like that is my tribe. I belong with those people. I had no clue how I was going to meet them. Had no plan when I came to New York as to how to meet them.
MUSA: As a young Black woman coming from Boston, how did you come to model?
ALVA: Yes, when I came in early spring to New York I was there to do the college issue of Mademoiselle magazine. A waitress in the deli suggested that I call her agent. I didn’t know what an agent was. She said “My agent is looking for someone like you.” I was actually there crying over a boyfriend. She said what’s a pretty girl like you crying. I didn’t think I was pretty. I knew I was odd looking. I had friends and cousins who made me look like chopped liver. I was gawky and skinny. But I followed through with this agent Edith Goldsmith who had an agency called The Models Group. I went where I was told to go. So I went to Polaroid. It turns out that I just had to be me. I had to bring my energy. I wind up doing several jobs for them. One was in a canoe. I didn’t swim. ( laughs) I could act like I was doing it but if that tipped over I would of been in trouble.
MUSA: What was the New York fashion scene like when you arrived?
ALVA: It didn’t seem very welcoming. But I loved the energy of New York when I arrived in ‘72. I went where the wind took me. The first agency I went to they looked at me like I don’t know what to do with you. You’re not a junior or a Miss. You’re off looking. So I ended up at a women’s agency called Barbra Stone. My Booker was Donna Deseta, who would become a casting agent. I came here with a thousand dollars and staying at my cousins. So I had to work. So I waited tables. I did that at night so I could go on go sees during the day.
MUSA: When did your model career turn?
ALVA: It seemed like a long time to me but it really wasn’t. I tested with a really great Black photographer, John Forte. I then met Charles Tracey through Manny Gonzalez. Charles had a photo of me which got me a request from Audrey Smaltz at Ebony Magazine. She took me to Oscar De La Renta. And Oscar welcomed me like I was a girl from home.I loved him immediately. He was handsome and charming. I loved his clothes, especially the silk charmeuse. So I shot with another girl. In those days they didn’t let Ebony take any clothes out of his showroom office at 550 7th Avenue. He put me in his show. That was late ‘72. I started modeling for him. I met Stephen Burrows through Roz Rubenstein now named Roz Johnson. She was working for Stephen at that point but had already been working for Halston.
MUSA: How did you meet Halston?
ALVA: There was a crew that was interlaced. I met Halston through Stephen and Roz. They were friends. Roz was also at Versailles. She was Stephen’s directress. I wasn’t filled out then. It was like a hanger and had an energy. I always knew I was to be of service. Because there were tons of girls more beautiful with better bodies. I was scrawny. But I brought an energy that honored the clothes. I got what I was supposed to do.
MUSA: Did you become a Halsonette immediately?
ALVA: Well I was a newbie in the business. I had worked with Stephen, Oscar and Halston. So I was a shoe in to go to Versailles. Theoretically you had to work for at least three designers but I wind up working for Anne Klein as well. Everybody but Bill Blass. I worked for him eventually.
MUSA: What was Halston like?
ALVA: He was a triple Taurus if that helps. ( laughs) Extreme perfectionist. He knew what he wanted. I wasn’t always connected with my body in how I walked. I was a bit slew footed. So when you’re slew footed your hips move a lot.
MUSA: Much has been written about the Battle of Versailles. Is there something most folks don’t know?
ALVA: I remember a specific model who was there. Her name was Tanya Dennis. When I was asked about the girls who were there. Nobody remembered her but me. But in the actual footage from it. There’s a picture of her so I was correct. People have said they got those girls because it wasn’t a lot of money. You could get the Black models basically cheaper. That was not the case. The fee was three hundred dollars which was not a great fee. But for a fair amount of these girls who worked basically on seventh avenue and not doing a lot of print. There were certain ones who were doing both and doing quite well. Charlene Dash was in Vogue at the time. Pat Cleveland had returned from Europe to do this. Pat was a darling of both Stephen and Halston. Norma Jean was a commercial print model and actress who was working a lot. She had just came back from Europe and been taken to Italy by Karl Lagerfeld and done editorial and some other work. What was the normal route for Black girls to get there book together. You go to Europe you build your book and you come back to America. I was excited to go to Paris because I had studied French in school. Going to Paris was a fulfillment of another dream. The models didn’t stay in Paris we were in Versailles. The designers were staying in Paris at the Plaza Athenee. We were at a Sofitel. Thank God for Anne Klein. At the time no one knew she was ill, not even Donna Karan her assistant knew. Anne said anyone who wants to stay the weekend it’s on me. The generosity of that is one thing, the fact that she was dying was another. Another part even more amazing is the male designers, all except Stephen Burrows didn’t treat her well. The French and American designers acted like she didn’t belong there. Because she was a sportswear designer. But she represented the working woman. She belonged there.
MUSA: Now that you were exposed to the European market was that something you wanted to be apart of?
ALVA: Absolutely. I didn’t realize how much that was my beginnings. All of that solidified my beginnings. It all happened with me being in New York for just over a year.
MUSA: You are in the Guinness Book of World Records for having worked with every single major designer or fashion house.
ALVA: Yes, that was after I did Cardin. When I went to Paris this year I worked for Pierre Cardin. I had worked for all the other European ones except Cardin.
MUSA: You mentioned how great Oscar De La Renta was to you.
ALVA: The reason I got my first fabulous editorial situation is because Oscar introduced me to Valentino. It was for Italian Bazaar.
MUSA: You were also at Studio 54. What was that like?
ALVA: Let’s put it this way. Studio 54 was the place I went for my fashion group. But when I went out to dance. I went to Paradise Garage. Going to Studio 54 was great but it was also like work.
MUSA: You are also an actress. Was acting always apart of the bigger picture?
ALVA: Let’s put it this way. My first job for Polaroid was me acting. I was a native person in a canoe. I’ve always found modeling like acting. I would put my self in a situation. It was more than me just standing here dressed and smiling for the camera. Part of the reason I laugh out lord is because I have a story going on in my head. I need that, to be present enough to function. I need that connection with the photographer. It’s like you’re creating a painting but need some of the supplies to make that painting.
MUSA: This summer we saw the WGA strike and SAG/ AFTRA strike which is still in effect. Witnessing the power of organized unity. Do you think there needs to be a models union?
ALVA: I’m going to say the business has shifted so much from the way it used to be. The agents were there for the models. They fought for you. They had certain ways of making demands. A client that Eileen Ford did not know you could not book a model and not put some money up front. Let’s say you went for a five day booking you’d put up half of that in escrow. Unless that was a regular client of hers. If you were on a job and something didn’t feel right. You could walk away. That was the connection you had with your Booker back in those days. When I look at these agreements and you haven’t even spent any time with them. I let them know I know the business. Most of the agents are not working for the model as much as they are working for the client. That’s like a pimp who thinks he can tell you what to do. I don’t think these models can have ten and twenty year careers anymore.
MUSA: Share a few of your thoughts about the modeling industry today? Are we moving forward or stagnating when it comes to representation?
ALVA: I think what is happening to actors who are not the upper echelon of actors. They aren’t necessarily working in the way they would like to work in the industry. Especially If you don’t have the right connections. If I look at my career I made all the connections on my own.
MUSA: You recently went back to Paris to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Versailles. What was that like?
ALVA: I was able to celebrate it because I went back to work for Pierre Cardin. They asked me. That’s how I fulfilled working for all the designers. It was on my bucket list. When I saw the Pierre Cardin show at Brooklyn Museum. I had him so stuck in the sixties in my head. Because of that crazy rocket ship on the stage at Versailles. I was like what is that doing here. Meanwhile he was ahead of all of them. He had the first licensing deal even before Halston. Maybe if Halston had known how Cardin had did his deal he might not have had the problems he had here in America. Because Halston was the maverick here. Cardin was ahead of his time.
MUSA: What you give to an aspiring model coming from a smaller market.
ALVA: Coming from a smaller market because there is a market there. I gave some advice when I did a talk about Versailles at the Museum of Fine Arts. It was a joint venture between them and Newman Marcus. There were four young beautiful girls all looking different from one another which I thought was great. Some of them younger and some of them older. I said, “I love what you’re wearing. Tell me what you’re wearing?” Only one of them could tell me. I said your job is to know what your wearing and who you’re representing. Because you’re representing that brand. It’s not just because your beautiful. That’s your job. Your job is to represent that brand. You have to be the woman who would wear that brand. I don’t know the lady who has clothes in her closet and doesn’t know what she’s putting on. You have to honor yourself and honor what you have chosen to do.
MUSA: Lastly tell us about that iconic sexy Chic album cover shot?
ALVA: It was a short shoot. It took about two – three hours. I don’t remember who the photographer was ( Frank Lafitte) or the model ( Valentine Monnier) There was nothing sexy about the shoot. They weren’t even playing Chic’s music. Nile Rodgers has such wonderful energy. Had he been there or had his music been playing who knows what that cover might of looked like. They handed us the whistles. Et Voila
– Musa Jackson
Talent: Alva Chinn @alva.chinn
Creative Director: @iammusajackson
Photographer:@james_l_hicks2photography
Stylist: @the_real_re_edit for @thestylemonsters
Makeup: @reneegarnes
Hair: @stevenricestyle
Video: @courtneydouglasphotography
Musa Assistant: @JarvisLamar
Assistant MU- @marsela_angels
Stylist Assistants: @d0minici
Amber Adams
1. Jumpsuit @DouglasSays
Earrings by @HausofTopper
2. Suit, shirt, tie by @LanderosNewYork
3. Morph, shirt, pants by @Eppersonn Shoes by @DirkSchoenberg
4. Dress and Coat by @MarcoHall
Earrings by @HausofTopper
5. Cardigan and Shorts by @inearnestofficial
6. Dress and Jacket by @cd.greene
Shoes by @tianniabarnes
7. Dress by @BibhuMohapatra Earrings by @HausofTopper
8. Hat by @esenshel Coat by @marcohall. Dress by @a___potts Earrings by @HausofTopper Shoes by @TianniaBarnes
9. Dress by @a___potts Earrings by @HausofTopper Shoes by @TianniaBarnes
Special Thank You to @Renaissancenewyorkharlem for providing the beautiful location and exquisite hospitality.
NY TEAM:
Founder & Editor In Chief:
Musa Jackson @iammusajackson
Art Director/ Cover & Editorial Graphics:
Paul Morejon @Paulmorejon