Who What Wear UK's Beauty Issue Featuring Leomie Anderson | Who What Wear

Published 9 hours ago• 8 minute read

It's midday on a Tuesday when Leomie Anderson bounces onto our video call, fresh-faced and radiant between workout sessions. She apologises for her off-duty appearance and the gym-café backdrop, but with her post-exercise energy, I can already tell our conversation is going to be a good one.

Although we've only met once before, years ago, we greet each other like old friends. "I remember your face," she says warmly. In an industry where people tend to blur and introductions are fleeting, it's a flattering surprise—but not entirely unexpected. As I recall, we had a bit of a moment; after some fangirling on my part, we kiki-ed and snapped some photos together. And though our first encounter was brief, it has stayed with me. As a Black woman in media, you don't always find someone in the room who talks like you, let alone looks like you.

Anderson started modelling young at 14, after being scouted on the streets of South London with burgundy hair. "It was a rinse, not a dye! I didn't want anything permanent," she clarifies, laughing at the memory. Since then, she has walked some of the world's most iconic catwalks—think Vivienne Westwood, Tom Ford and Burberry, to name just a few.

Comparisons to Naomi Campbell are inevitable—both are tall, Black, British models who command a room—but Anderson's path has always been distinctly her own. She's outspoken, elegantly confident and curious, with an impeccable track record for calling out industry faux pas and addressing diversity and inclusion in the fashion industry. These are the traits that saw her evolve from the girl from Wandsworth, who spent much of her time on the track as a young athlete, into the multi-hyphenate supermodel she is today. She has gone on to become a TV presenter—currently fronting the BBC's Glow Up, a reality competition series where aspiring makeup artists battle it out for a golden ticket to the world of professional makeup—a two-time TEDx Talk speaker and, most recently, a survivalist on Netflix's Bear Hunt. Throughout all of her achievements, it's her interest in beauty, propelled by her modelling heritage, that has become a firm passion point for Anderson.

"When I started, I didn't even think makeup was made for Black people," she says. "They couldn't match my shade. They'd say, 'Your skin's so nice, you don't need makeup.' I thought it was a compliment until I realised [they just didn't] have anything for me." This realisation sparked something in Anderson. She taught herself makeup basics, which led to her creating a YouTube video titled The Black Girl Survival Kit in 2016. She later joined Rihanna's groundbreaking Fenty Beauty campaign, which showcased the brand's 40-strong range of foundation shades. "It shook up the industry," she recalls. "It was a full-circle moment for me, being a part of that change, because it was something that I was very vocal about from the beginning of my career."

Leomie Anderson quote reading: "The industry has come a long way... Now you see braids on runways—that wouldn't have happened back then."

Despite the lack of diversity, often finding that she was a rare—or sometimes the only—Black model in the room, Anderson's positive relationship with her skin, hair and body has thankfully remained intact, which is a refreshing contrast for someone working in an industry notorious for unhealthy pressures and fostering feelings of insecurity.

Modelling throughout the 2010s gave her a front-row seat to an industry that desperately needed change. "[It has] come a long way," she acknowledges. "When I started, even mixed-race girls with curls were told to perm their hair [straight]. Now you see braids on runways—that wouldn't have happened back then." But she's not sugarcoating the reality. We talk about life post Black Lives Matter; the surge in diverse campaigns, panels and opportunities that came, only for it all to quietly fizzle away. "They gave us three, four good years of 'diversity and inclusion', then it was goodbye," she says. "Jobs I was getting through 2020 to 2022? Gone. It's back to how it was before."

This is why her TEDx Talks, where she's discussed everything from modelling's hidden struggles to racial inequity, matter so much and resonate so deeply. "I use humour to keep it real," she explains. "Some stuff I've been through is bad, but it's funny too—like, how did this even happen? I want people to see it's my lived experience, not just me complaining." Stepping into that space takes guts, especially for women who look like us. "If I can speak up on a stage to 500 people, maybe a young model will feel brave enough to advocate for herself, too."

Anderson is quick to add that she has also had positive experiences. Her time as a Victoria's Secret Angel is something she considers one of her proudest achievements. "I loved being a Victoria's Secret Angel; that was definitely a pinch-me moment," she beams. "[It] was a great time because they treated us really well." Quick to acknowledge the brand's rocky reputation—"Obviously, no brand is perfect"—it was the sisterhood that she cherished. "It was just all the girls and everybody there and the opportunities we had—I really enjoyed being a part of that." It's clear Anderson likes working with people, as her energy and grace on the set of her Who What Wear UK cover shoot attest. "I had an amazing day with the team," she tells me with pride.. "I think [the shots] came out so well."

Leomie Anderson quote reading: "If I can speak up on a stage to 500 people, maybe a young model will feel brace enough to advocate for herself."

I can't help but notice that her roomy zip-up hoodie offers a peek of a LAPP. sports bra; the athleisure brand she founded and led for eight years before pressing pause in 2024."Retail is brutal," she admits. "I faced every obstacle: crooked businessmen, broken promises and funding falling through after 10 months of talks. As a Black woman, it's harder to get support." She's right—a February 2024 report by the UK Government identified persistent funding disparities for Black female entrepreneurs, noting they received just 0.02% of total venture capital funding between 2009 and 2019.

Still, Anderson is not deterred. She's cooking up a new venture in the beauty space, set to launch later this summer. I try my luck with some speculative guesses, but she's only willing to spill lukewarm tea. "I'll say [that] it's not makeup or skincare—those are done to death. [But] I want to be the Rihanna of this lane, shake things up," she reveals. "We need to create our own tables, spaces we control."

As with anything, serendipity can play a role—and there's the beauty lottery, of course—but Anderson's journey has never been about "pretty privilege". She's welcomed the hard work and has remained outspoken and candid about her experiences, even when the stakes are high. She's not about giving up or quitting, but admits sometimes the best thing you can do is relinquish anything that no longer serves you. "Let things go," she says. "I used to think everything had a fix if I worked hard enough, but sometimes you need to step away. More will come."

Leomie Anderson quote reading: "I faced every obstacle: crooked businessmen, broken promises and funding falling through. As a Black woman, it's harder to get support."

As our chat winds down, she tells me she's worried about her missing passport ("I know it's in the house!"), but before she can look for it, she's committed to another gym class. "Today's been stressful," she confides, "but the sun's out and talking to you [has] helped." As a parting gift, she gives me her advice on navigating stress and an endless to-do list, "Honestly, on these types of days, accepting that [the] emotion is going to pass is the best thing to do. I try to remind myself that things are always going to be in balance. And today I might feel like the bad outweighs the good, but that's just how it feels [in the moment]. I analyse my life and the situation I'm in, and I'm like, 'Okay, I've been through much worse than this, so this is actually not that bad'. Better days are coming."

She's not wrong. Anderson has a lot of exciting things to look forward to, from the imminent release of Glow Up's seventh season on 24 April ("Trust me: you will not be able to predict who wins… I can't wait for it to come out," she teases) to diving into beauty entrepreneurship, where she's poised to bring about change in a space Black women have been overlooked. "I still feel like I'm just getting started," she says.