# Carol LaBrie

Carol LaBrie Rose ( December 27, 1946 – February 18, 2021) was an American model who attained success in the 1960s and 1970s. LaBrie was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Vogue Italia in 1971. She began her career as a dancer before she became a model and a Warhol superstar. LaBrie was a muse to fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez and fashion designer Kenzō Takada.

## Biography

Carol LaBrie was born to Sears LaBrie and Wilda Simien in El Cerrito, California on December 27, 1946.
Her sister Alice LaBrie Hille was a television producer who was married to radio personality Hal Jackson.
In 1965, LaBrie was a model on the game show The Price Is Right.
LaBrie decided to leave her Wall Street secretarial job and relocated to Los Angeles, where she began dancing at the popular nightclub Whiskey-a-Go-Go. She had previously taken ballet for seven years. In 1967, she was booked as a dancer at the Tropicana in Las Vegas.
LaBrie gave up her career as a dancer and began modeling again with the assistance of film director Bob Rafelson. "He called Nina Blanchard, the top Los Angeles agent, and when she saw me, she said, 'Great, let’s do some pictures.' So I got pictures done, and my first job was a TV commercial," she recalled.
When she went to New York, she met Gilles Raysse, a French producer of TV commercials, through designer Fernando Sanchez. Three days after meeting, LaBrie and Raysse were married, and they later had a son. On her wedding night, LaBrie flew to Paris for a meeting with designer Yves Saint Laurent. He wanted her to become one of his house models but she turned down the offer because that meant she "couldn't do anything else."
LaBrie appeared in a spread with fellow Black model RoAnne Nesbitt in the February 1969 edition of Vogue magazine.
By 1970, LaBrie was part of pop artist Andy Warhol's ensemble of superstars. She appeared in his film L'Amour (1972). LaBrie was also supposed to star in a movie that Warhol had planned to produce about Walt Whitman during the Civil War. Paul Morrissey, Warhol's film collaborator, reportedly tried to pitch the movie but the film studios wouldn't back the project.
LaBrie and Raysse were photographed by Francesco Scavullo for the March 1970 edition of Harper's Bazaar. LaBrie had difficulty with bookings because of her fair complexion so she moved to Paris and became one of "Antonio's Girls," a muse of Puerto Rican illustrator Antonio Lopez. After Raysse became the business partner of Japanese-born French designer Kenzō Takada, a friendship blossomed between LaBrie and Takada. She taught him English and modeled exclusively for his brand "JAP."
LaBrie became the first Black model to appear on the cover of Vogue Italia when she was featured in the magazine's July/August 1971 edition.
LaBrie had a minor role in the French film Body of My Enemy (1976), but she gave up her modeling and film career to focus on being a housewife and mother. "Modeling was not my greatest joy... Models have to have other goals and ideals, to do something and help other people. Be a role model. Be beautiful, be Black, but be what you are because you're beautiful as you are," she said.
LaBrie was married photographer Ulie Rose and they had four children.
LaBrie died at the age of 75 in New Lebanon, New York on February 18, 2021.