Actor and model Renauld White passed away on June 26, 2024, at 80 years old.
Fashion designer Jeffrey Banks was close with White and confirmed the news toWomen’s Wear Daily (WWD).
As a model, White helped to shape the fashion industry and make way for more diversity.
He was the second-ever Black model on a GQ cover, for an issue published in November 1979.
In fact, White’s first-everInstagrampost was that cover.
“I wanted to bring about change,” White said.
“I really confronted the establishment about why there were not more Black male images.
They signed him as a model assuming White wouldn’t succeed, though the opposite ended up being true.
After retiring from the industry, he returned to modeling for Dolce & Gabbana in 2023 (viaInstagram).
He really broke barriers.
After Franklin herself died in 2018, White reminisced about their friendship onInstagram.
