Supermodel Resource

The twenty-first century saw supermodels fading out. Actors and actresses began replacing models. Tyra Banks is claimed to have been the last supermodel, according to Janice Dickinson (on The Tyra Banks Show).

Actors and actresses have become more popular with the masses as people relate to them more. They don’t always look picture perfect – they come across as humans like any of us.

Some of the supermodels in 2000s are Liya Kebede, Daria Werbowy, Gemma Ward, Natalia Vodianova, Karen Elson, Lisa Cant, Oluchi Onweagba, Yasmin Warsame, Jessica Stam, Eugenia Volodina, Adriana Lima, Liya Kebede, Lily Cole, Heather Marks, Petra Nemcová, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ana Beatriz Barros, Angela Lindvall, Carmen Kass, Caroline Winberg, Caroline Trentini, Noémie Lenoir, , Hana Soukupova, Tiiu Kuik, Lily DonaldsonPolina Kouklina, Isabeli Fontana, Natasha Poly, Valerie Celis, and Josie Maran.

The model look of this decade was baby doll, alien, wide eyed and waif.

Supermodels really gained popularity and the deserved status in the 80s and 90s. The most famous of them all is “The Trinity” consisting of Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington. The 1980s and 1990s are also termed as the ‘supermodel era’.

Cindy Crawford leveraged her modeling status and hosted her own television show called the MTVs House of Style. She began creating and promoting video tapes of exercises. She also became the first supermodel to pose for Playboy.

Some great supermodels of this era were Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Shana Zadrick, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Bridget Hall, Kristen McMenamy, Bridget Hall, Shalom Harlow, Gail O’Neil, Lisa Taylor, Bonnie Burman, Louis Vyent, Vera Cox, Robyn Mackintosh, Naomi Campbell, Emma Sjoberg, Jerry Hall, Carolyn Murphy, Karen Alexander, Valeria Mazza, Helena Christensen, Ashley Richardson, Rachel Williams, Estelle Hallyday, , Carolyn Murphy, Linda Evangelista, Rene Simonsen, Claudia Mason, Veronica Webb, Kristen McMenamy, Megan Douglas, Shana Zadrick, Paulina Porizkova, Daniela Peštová, Yasmeen Ghauri, Carol Alt, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz, Emma Sjöberg, Elaine Irwin Mellencamp, Rachel Hunter, Carla Bruni, Kara Young, Patricia Velasquez, Brandi Quinones, Laetitia Casta, Yamila Diaz-Rahi, Niki TaylorNadja Auermann, Tyra Banks, Elsa Benitez, Beverly Peele, Karen Mulder, Michaela Bercu, Carolyn Murphy, Eva Herzigova, and Stephanie Seymour.

Kate Moss became quite a topic of conversation the modeling world because of her slender figure. She was constantly under the glare and scrutinized for her thin looks. Many claim that she is anorexic. But she introduced the “waif” supermodel look. This is popular even today.

Male supermodels also emerged in these two decades. Tyson Beckford and Marcus Schenkenberg are two of the most popular ones.

The crop of supermodels in the late 1990s included Tricia Helfer, Valeria Mazza, Rebecca Romijn, Veronica Varekova, Heidi Klum, Devon Aoki, Marisa Miller, Alek Wek, Molly Sims, Ana Hickmann, Mini Anden, Michelle Alves, Milla Jovovich, and Gisele Bundchen.

The 1970s saw a shining star by the name of Janice Dickinson, who is still regarded as the “World’s First Supermodel” by many. She did a lot of work with Vogue magazine posing for at least 37 covers. Black models began breaking barriers in this decade. Some of the more impressionable ones were Beverly Johnson and Iman Abdulmajid. Other supermodels of the 1970s included Bessie Badilla, Anna Bayle, Christie Brinkley, Cheryl Tiegs and Gia Marie Carangi.

The 1960s era was popularly known as “Swinging London”. Some of the notable supermodels of the decade were Twiggy, Naomi Sims, Peggy Moffitt, Donyale Luna, Colleen Corby, Evelyn Kuhn, Molly Corby, Veruschka, Jean Shrimpton, Agneta Freiberg, Linda Morand, Babette Morand, Cybill Shephard, Angela Howard, Terry Reno, Penelope Tree and Wilhelmina CooperSizy Parker. Twiggy was the fashion icon of the decade and London Daily Press termed her style as the “face of the yearly”. Her thin figure became a standard of measure, which is prevalent partially, even today.

Although the term ‘supermodel’ wasn’t really that popular till the 1980s, a number of models became well renound in their own right in the 30s, 40s and 50s.

According to Vogue magazine, the world’s first few supermodels were Lisa Fonssagrives, Lauren Hutton, Dorian Leigh, Suzy Parker, Cathee Dahmen, Mary Jane Russell, Inga Lindgren, Susanne Erichsen, and Jean Patchett. They were some of the most highly paid models in their time earning upwards of $40 an hour. Dorian Leigh earned an astounding $300 per year, which was considered very high for a model.