Though she was born in Somalia, Iman attended high school in Egypt and later moved to Kenya to study political science at Nairobi University. While she was still a student, American photographer Peter Beard (pictured here at her press party in 1975) stopped the beautiful, young 19-year-old woman on the street. Soon, Beard brought his discovery—with her legendary long neck and high cheek bones—to America where her modeling career took off. Just a year after hitting the states, Iman landed her first job at
Vogue in 1976.