Introduction
- For the American television and film actress, see Carole Ita White.For the British actress, see Carol White.
Carole White is a former model, and co-founder of Premier Model Management.
Early life
White was born in Deal, Kent in 1950 but raised in Ghana. At the age of five she was sent to a boarding-school in England, then later to a convent in Belgium, an experience she described as repressive but one that helped shape her future career and fuel her interest in modelling.She became a model at the renowned Lucy Clayton Modelling Academy, but quickly decided that this career was not for her. Instead she became a booker and in 1970 joined London model agency Bobton’s, where she stayed for 7 years looking after the early modeling careers of Jo Wood, Andrea Dellal and the Bond girl Tania Mallet.
Premier Model Management
In 1981, together with her brother Chris Owen, she founded Premier Model Management. Initially representing 40 girls, they ran the agency from their kitchen table.
White is a campaigner against racial discrimination in fashion.
In autumn 2010 Premier Model Management allowed television cameras into their offices for the filming of Channel 4's The Model Agency. The seven part documentary followed White and her co-workers for two months revealing what life is really like behind the scenes. It aired in the UK in February 2011.
Charles Taylor trial
In 2010, White testified at the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, alleging that her former client Naomi Campbell had accepted blood diamonds from him.In a statement, White says that she remembers Taylor attending the dinner and saying he would like to give diamonds to Campbell.