Alva Chinn is an American fashion model.

Early life, career beginnings

She is of Chinese, English, Indian, and Black ancestry. She grew up in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

where she was the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of her high school class. While attending the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

, she modeled for ''Mademoiselle'' magazine's college issue. Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York to start a modeling career.

Work

She modeled for

Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer, who rose to international fame in the 1970s. Halston's minimalist, clean designs, which were often made of cashmere or ...

, Saint Laurent,

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

, and

Chloé Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. In 1953, Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative growth of Chloé. It ...

. Gianni Versace booked her in exclusivity to model his collections in the early 1980s. In 2004, she and designer Stephen Burroughs collaborated on a collection. With

Pat Cleveland Patricia Cleveland (born June 23, 1950) is an American fashion model who initially attained success in the 1960s and 1970s and was one of the first African-American models within the fashion industry to achieve prominence as a runway and print m ...

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress, director and model. She is best known for playing Morticia Addams in the ''The Addams Family'' and '' The Addams Family Values'', as well as often portraying eccentric and distincti ...

Pat Ast Patricia Ann Ast (October 21, 1941 – October 2, 2001) was an American actress and model. She was best known for starring in Andy Warhol films and being a Halston model and muse in the 1970s. Early life Patricia Ann Ast was born on October 21, ...

Karen Bjornson Karen Bjornson (born 1952) is an American model. She is best known as one of Halston's ''Halstonettes''. In 2019, she was one of many of his former models to be interviewed for the documentary film ''Halston''. Bjornson was born in Galesburg, Ill ...

, Nancy North and Connie Cook, among others, she became one of

's favored troupe of models, nicknamed the Halstonettes. In 2019, she was one of many of his former models to be interviewed for the documentary film ''

''. She also appears on the cover of

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...

's 1977 self-titled debut album ''

''.

Awards

In 2011, Chinn was recognized by the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' Game Changer Awards. The awards honored

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

models featured in

The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show was a historic fashion show held on November 28, 1973, in the Palace of Versailles to raise money for its restoration. Created by Eleanor Lambert and Versailles curator Gerald Van der Kemp, the show pitted Fr ...

which was a

fashion show A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is wh ...

held on November 28, 1973, in the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

in France. The fashion show was organized to raise money to restore the palace. Chinn was among several models recognized, including

Bethann Hardison Bethann Hardison is an American fashion model and activist. Hardison became one of the first high-profile black models after her appearance at the 1973 Battle of Versailles fashion show. She is also known for her activism on diversity in the fa ...

, Billie Blair,

Norma Jean Darden Norma Jean Darden is a caterer and former model. She was recognized by the 2011 Huffington Post Game Changer Awards. The awards honored African American models featured in The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show which was a fashion show held on No ...

Charlene Dash Charlene Dash is an African-American model. Dash is one of the models recognized by the 2011 Huffington Post Game Changer Awards. The awards honored African American models featured in the Versailles fashion show entitled The Battle of Versailles ...

, Jennifer Brice, Barbara Jackson, China Machado, Ramona Saunders, and

Amina Warsuma Amina Warsuma (born 1953) is an American model, author, actress and film maker. Early life Warsuma was born in the Bronx, New York to a Somalis, Somali father and an American mother. Education Warsuma graduated with an ASS degree from Monroe ...

References

African-American female models Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women {{US-model-stub American female models of Indian descent American models of Chinese descent