Naima Mora

Naima Mora

Naima Mora (born March 1, 1984) is an American fashion model and the winner of Cycle 4 of America's Next Top Model.

Biography

Early life

Naima Mora was born on March 1, 1984 in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of jazz vocalist and entrepreneur Theresa Mora and jazz percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett. Her paternal grandparents are painter Francisco Mora and sculptor, painter, and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett. She is the inspiration for her grandmother's 2001 black marble bust entitled Naima. Catlett described it as:

That black marble head, Naima: we have twin granddaughters who came to stay with us one summer, they were studying Spanish. I kept looking at one of them, who has a very dynamic personality. I thought I would like to do a head of her. And then it was the shape of her hair with a knot at the back. It was a whole different shape. She posed for me a little bit, to get the general shape of it. She has a little bump in her nose that I wanted to put in.^[2]

She can be seen as one of the backup dancers in Chaka Khan's music video for "I Feel for You".^{[citation needed]}

Career

On September 3, 2012, she released the iBook Naima Mora's Model Behavior, published by Possibility Publishing & Entertainment. She has been seen on television as a guest on The Tyra Banks Show, on the second season premiere of Veronica Mars, and in a CoverGirl commercial with Yoanna House.^{[citation needed]}

Mora and Cycle 3's Ann Markley were Trophy Girls at the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards.^{[citation needed]} Mora also served as a judge at the Miss Teen USA Pageant in 2005.^[3]

Mora has done print modeling for CoverGirl, ELLE Magazine, Fuego Magazine, Us Weekly Magazine, Radar, In Touch, Star, Teen People, Split Clothing, and elsewhere. Mora's runway shows include Christopher Deane Spring 2006 Collection, Gharani Strok Fall 2005, Carlos Miele Fashion Show, Walmart and ELLEgirl Presents Dare To Be You Spring 2006, Fashion Comedy Style 2005 (Charity Event), and New York Fashion Week 2007.^{[citation needed]} She has modeled with her sisters twice: with her sister, Ife, for iTunes and with her twin, Nia, for Cycle 2's Camille McDonald's lingerie line, Lingerwear.

In 2006, she completed filming a role in the independent film Sarbanes-Oxley and made an appearance in a music video for TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me.” The following year, she was on the cover of U&U magazine and Uzuri magazine and was photographed by Romer Pedrome and Derek Blanks. In 2008, she had a cover and editorial in Vicious magazine, and she signed with 301 Model Management in Miami and Basic Model Management in New York City. She got a showcard for Fashion Week SS09 and walked in the Project Runway Finale for designer Joe Farris.

Mora was the vocalist for the unsigned band Chewing Pics.^[4] As of fall 2009 the group was disbanded.^{[citation needed]} Mora joined the band Galaxy of Tar.^[5]

References

External links

• Naima Mora at the Fashion Model Directory
• Naima Mora at the Internet Movie Database