Fashion / Press & broadcasting
Naima Mora
born 1984 · fashion model
Winner of America's Next Top Model Cycle 4, raised on Detroit's northwest side and a graduate of Cass Technical High School.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 42- Detroit years
- 1984–2002
- Field
- Fashion, Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Naima Mora was born in Detroit to a musical family: her mother, Theresa Mora, is a jazz vocalist and entrepreneur, and her father, Francisco Mora Catlett, is a jazz percussionist. She grew up near West McNichols and Schaefer on the city's northwest side, went to Bates Academy for middle school and graduated from Cass Technical High School in 2002. Before modeling she was a serious ballet student, training at Detroit's Ballet Renaissance and in American Ballet Theatre's Detroit summer program. In 2005 she won the fourth cycle of Tyra Banks's reality competition America's Next Top Model, which launched her modeling career with a contract, magazine exposure and campaign work.
Highlights
- Winner of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 4 (2005)
- Graduate of Cass Technical High School (2002)
- Trained at Detroit's Ballet Renaissance and ABT's Detroit summer program
- Daughter of jazz percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1990s
Bates Academy
Detroit public school for academically talented students, where Mora went to middle school.
Studied here · 1998–2002
Cass Technical High School
Detroit's renowned magnet high school, from which Mora graduated in 2002 (then in its original 1922 building, replaced in 2005).