Cleveland agreed and decided she would place her aspirations to be a designer on hold and try her luck as a fashion model.
Cleveland made her first appearance as a fashion model in American Vogue in June 1970, photographed by Berry Berenson and the same year, appeared in the very first issue of Essence magazine.
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Her career as a model began in 1966 when she was on a subway platform with a friend en route to class and was noticed by the assistant to Carrie Donovan, fashion editor at Vogue.