Beauty and brains.

When Norma Jean Darden was a student at Sarah Lawrence College in the early 1960s, she went to an open call for models for the college issue of Mademoiselle. She dressed up in a beautiful suit, patent leather shoes, and a red coat, and went in with photos in hand. But when she arrived, she was met by insults and prejudice. "When I got up to the secretary, she said to me, 'Deliveries are at the back entrance.' I just looked at her and said, 'I've come to be a model.' And she said, 'Well, this is a white woman's privilege.'"

But Darden was determined and would have the last laugh. Over the years, she would overcome such narrow-mindedness to grace the pages of scores of fashion and beauty magazines, including Mademoiselle. Now a New York caterer, Darden used that same determination to succeed in the business world. In our efforts to show the many faces of business, BLACK ENTERPRISE thought it was time to look at Darden and other fashionistas who successfully transitioned into entrepreneurship.

The most well-known examples are our cover subjects, supermodels Iman and Tyra Banks. Iman sits atop a cosmetics empire that sells millions of dollars of product annually through mass-market retailers such as Walgreens, Wal-Mart, and Target. Banks created, hosts, and executive produces the hit reality show America's Next Top Model and The Tyra Banks Show, which has scored high ratings with young female audiences, earning it a second season.

These two women are by no means the only black models who've made the successful transition to a second act as CEOs of their own companies, as you'll see in our cover story, "Models Inc." These enterprising women span three generations--from Audrey Smaltz, a mainstay at Ebony magazine and Ebony Fashion Fair shows during the '70s who has been taming the chaos backstage at major fashion shows for more than two decades, to model Alek Wek, the 29-year-old Sudanese beauty and handbag designer (read about her in "Couture Carryall," Lifestyle, this issue).

Barbara Smith, the former model behind B. Smith Enterprises, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of her first restaurant. She says she will never forget the doubters who thought she was just a front for the operation because she couldn't possibly be savvy enough to do it on her own: "And that's because I'm a model and I'm attractive. If you're attractive, it works for you in television or in Hollywood. But sometimes in real life you're not taken seriously."

That sentiment was echoed by many of our modelpreneurs. "Especially for women of color, it's difficult to prove yourself in the workplace," says Kimora Lee Simmons, president and creative director of Baby Phat. "This is a man-dominated world, whatever world that is, whether that's fashion, business, entertainment, Wall Street, you name it. It's sometimes difficult for people to hear your message and not look at a woman when she walks, in and their mind goes to something else, and they're not really listening to what she's bringing to the table."

Despite the fact that these women have built successful brands, expanded their companies to become multimedia powerhouses, and generated millions in revenues, their business sense continues to be challenged by those who can't see past their physical beauty. "Few models ever make it big, and the majority of new businesses fail. But these women have managed to conquer two very difficult arenas--despite their double minority status and the perception that they are nothing more than pretty faces," says writer Alisa Gumbs. "I wanted to celebrate their achievements and, at the same time, shed light on some of the often-overlooked pioneers of the trend."--The Editors