Good Morning POU!
Today’s feature is the first black man to cover GQ Magazine (Renauld White was the first African-American).
Urs Althaus
Born in 1956, Urs Althaus was raised by his Swiss mother in Altdorf (Switzerland) in the Canton of Uri. His father was a medical student from Nigeria, whom he never met.
His career as a model began in the fashion house grains in Altdorf, it was followed by stints in Zurich. In the fall of 1976 he ran the first time for Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, in 1977, he was the first black model on the cover of U.S. magazine GQ. Althaus worked for Calvin Klein, Valentino, Gucci and Armani and appeared in numerous international fashion magazines.
He danced with Liza Minelli, Cindy Crawford and Brooke Shields in the Clubs of Paris, London and New York. In 1978, in New York, he founded the company “Xtazy Ltd.”, the first Model Ensemble in the World. Eight years later, also in New York, and together with Gary Gatys he created the fashion label “Gary Gatys Ltd”.
Though the agency was not successful, he continued to model and began taking acting classes as he pursued film roles. In 1984 he filmed the Italian Western comedy Arrapaho, his first starring role. In the same year, he starred in the football film “Allenatore nel Pallone” about the Brazilian football player Aristotle and in 1986 he starred in The Name of the Rose with Sean Connery.
In 1989 he stopped modeling and took over the men’s division of the Zurich Model Agency “Photogenic”. Between 1992 and 2000, Althaus was co-owner and managing director of the Swiss model agency “Option”. Also, as an agent between 1990 – 2001 he represented Supermodels like Giselle Bündchen, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer. He also continued to model for top designers (below, a shoot for Calvin Klein).
In 2008 he appeared in “Allenatore nel Pallone 2”,again playing the role of Aristotle.
In October 2009, his biography was published, entitled “I, the Negro”.
