Chanel Iman

Chanel Iman was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She grew up in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is half Korean and half African American, and her father is African American. Iman started modeling with Ford Models at the age of 13 as a child model in Los Angeles, California. She flew to New York in 2006 and won third place in Ford's Supermodel of the World contest. Shortly after, she signed on with the agency. In February and July 2007, Iman appeared on the cover of Teen Vogue, with Karlie Kloss and Ali Michael, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, then in November 2009 she appeared on the cover again, this time with Jourdan Dunn. Iman's other covers include Italian Elle, i-D, Dubai and Ukrainian Harper's Bazaar, Lula, Korean, Teen, and American Vogue. She has walked the runway for fashion houses and designers including Balenciaga, Max Mara, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and Stella McCartney. She has appeared in editorials for Allure, Dubai, American, and Ukrainian Harpers Bazaar, V, i-D, Pop, Italian, British, and Indonesian Elle, Italian Vanity Fair, and several international Vogues. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for high-end brands like, Bottega Veneta, GAP, Ralph Lauren, Express and DKNY.She has walked in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. In 2010, she became a Victoria's Secret Angel and was used in several of the company's campaigns.

In October 2007, Iman appeared with her mother on an episode of the Tyra Banks Show.On March 21, 2009, she appeared as a correspondent in MTV's brief revival of House of Style with Bar Refaeli. On September 9, 2009, Iman appeared as a guest judge on the two-hour season premiere of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 13.

Iman appeared in the 2015 film Dope which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Early in 2010, Iman opened a clothing boutique in Culver City, California called The Red Bag with the help of her mother. Iman appeared in Beyoncé's music video for "Yonce". She also appeared in singer Usher's music video for "Dive". In 2012, she attended the Met Ball with fashion designer Tom Ford.

Intel released a Kinect video game on Xbox Live Arcade starring Chanel Iman, Chris Evans and Redfoo of LMFAO. Iman signed a contract with Utah-based electronics company Skullcandy. For 2012, Iman was Sunglass Hut's summer ambassador along with Jourdan Dunn and Joan Smalls. Iman was a model for Amazon Fashion's 2012 holiday campaign. In 2011, Iman became one of a handful of celebrities attached to USAID and Ad Council's FWD campaign, an awareness initiative tied to that year's drought in East Africa. She joined Uma Thurman, Geena Davis and Josh Hartnett in TV and internet ads to "forward the facts" about the crisis.

In May 2011, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour, chose Iman to co-host her Runway to Win fundraising event in Chicago. In conjunction with the event, Iman designed a backpack to raise money for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign. She also attended a dinner with President Obama at actress Sarah Jessica Parker's house.