Carole White

For the American television and film actress, see Carole Ita White. For the British actress, see Carol White.

Carole White is a former model, who founded and manages Premier Model Management.

Early life and Career

Born in 1950, White was born in Deal, Kent 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 that helped shape her future career and fuel her interest in modeling. 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.

In 1981, together with her brother, Chris Owen, she founded Premier Model Management. Initially representing 40 girls and running the agency from their kitchen table, the siblings were the pioneers behind “supermodel” branding, producing the talent for George Michael’s iconic “Freedom” video and developing the first model fragrance and cosmetic lines for Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell.

Today Premier Model Management is one of the world's most respected model agencies, representing some of the fashion industry's most successful faces and working with a host of international clients including Prada, Miu Miu, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Givenchy, Jil Sander, Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Fendi and Christopher Kane to name a few. Carole has been instrumental in discovering, nurturing and building the international careers of some of the world’s greatest names including Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Nadja Auermann, Tatjana Patiz, Paulina Porizkova, Kristen McMenamy, Karen Mulder, Kirsty Hume and more recently Hannah Holman, Suvi Koponen, Tao Okamoto, Katrin Thormann, Karmen Pedaru, Anna Jagodzinska, Amanda Laine and Julia Nobis

Carole is a voice of authority and experience in the fashion industry and is a campaigner against racial discrimination in fashion.

In Autumm 2010 Premier Model Management let the cameras into there offices for the filming of The Model Agency. The seven part documentary followed Carole and her co-workers for two months revealing what life is really like behind the scenes. It hit the Britsh Tv screens in February 2011, airing on Channel 4.

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.