Telegraph — In an interview with Parade magazine, the Somali-born model – who was one of the first black supermodels – said: “Mrs Obama is not a great beauty. But she is so interesting looking and so bright. That will always take you farther.

“When you’re a great beauty, it’s always downhill for you. If you’re someone like Mrs Obama, you just get better with age.”

The 53-year-old model, who is married to the rock star David Bowie, was reflecting on the experiences of black women who achieve fame, such as Mrs Obama, the first black US First Lady, who is a lawyer by training and a former executive.

Iman said that her own rise to stardom did not free her from racism.

“You suddenly represent a whole race, and that race goes, ‘Well, that person does not represent our ideals of beauty’. For lack of a better term, it becomes what it was like during slavery,” she said.

“One had the field nigger and the house nigger. There was this notion that I was chosen by white fashion editors to be better than the rest, which I am not.

“I did not like being thought of as the house nigger.”

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