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Fashion December 24, 2018

A Look Back at the Most Iconic 90’s Supermodels

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Linda Evangelista
The Canadian-born beauty was scouted at a beauty pageant when she was a teen and quickly moved to New York at the age of 19 to pursue her modeling career. A muse to Karl Lagerfeld, the gorgeous supermodel went on to become one of the most famous faces of the 90’s and one of the first editorial models to cross over to the runways. Apart from her 700 magazine covers, Evangelista walked for Versace, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani (among many others); as well as fronted campaigns for renowned fashion houses including Dolce & Gabbana, Chloé, and Yves Saint Laurent, infamously quoting that she doesn’t “wake up for less than US $10,000 a day.”
Photo: Rex
Cindy Crawford
Michael Kors praised the American beauty for “changing the perception of the ‘sexy American girl’ from classic blue-eyed blond to a more sultry, brunette with brains, charm, and professionalism to spare.” Indeed, during the 90’s, Cindy Crawford was a household name and a prominent figure in fashion. Besides repeatedly gracing the covers of high-end fashion magazines, Crawford walked the runways of renowned fashion houses Chanel, Versace, Christian Dior, and Valentino, to name a few. The multi-talented brunette beauty also served as the host of MTV’s House of Style and scored the female lead in the movie Fair Game.
Photo: Rex
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Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is undoubtedly one of the most multifaceted mega models. The English beauty was the first black model on the cover of French Vogue, wrote a book, has acted in several movies, created 16 perfumes, has a reality show, serves as a human rights advocate, and even recorded an album—and these are only a fraction of Campbell’s accomplishments. Since starting her modeling career at the tender age of sixteen, the supermodel skyrocketed to success, walking the runways for major brands—Versace, Azzedine Alaïa, and Prada—and formed relationships with influential designers such as the late Yves Saint Laurent who threatened to withdraw his advertising from French Vogue if it refused to place Campbell on the cover.
Photo: Rex
Kate Moss
Born in London, Kate Moss was scouted at an airport at the age of 14. Two years later, Moss appeared in her first magazine spread—called the 3rd Summer of Love—and became an instant sensation. From there, she appeared on covers for Vogue, landed endorsements, and walked runways for influential designers like John Galliano and Marc Jacobs, and nabbed a contract with Calvin Klein. Known as “the anti-supermodel” Moss was described as a waif , especially compared to the other buxom supermodels of the time (Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell), and propelled the wave of lithe models that came after her—but there was and will only ever be one Kate Moss.
Photo: Rex
Yasmeen Ghauri
One of the first Muslim models to take the fashion industry by storm, Yasmeen Ghauri was scouted while working at a McDonald's in her hometown of Montreal when she was 17-years-old. After pursuing modeling, the part Pakistani beauty would go on to be in-demand from an impressive list of fashion houses, including Givenchy, Hermès, and Versace amongst others.
Photo: Rex
Tyra Banks
America’s Next Top Model mogul began her modeling career at the age of 15, and quickly rose to fame. Banks was rejected by four modeling agencies before she was signed. For her first runway season, she was booked for 25 shows. She later appeared on multiple magazine covers, and was featured in advertising campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and more. In addition to her ever-growing resume, the stunning supermodel became the first African-American to front the cover of GQ magazine and the Victoria’s Secret catalogue—after she earned her wings in 1997—and was awarded VH1’s Supermodel of the Year Award that same year.
Photo: Rex
Claudia Schiffer
The German-born supermodel instantly became a household name during the 90’s and became one of the most successful models of the time. With her supernatural beauty, icy blue eyes, and enviable platinum tresses, Schiffer appeared in over 1000 magazine covers and starred in multiple campaigns. She went on to play muse for Karl Lagerfeld, and was selected to become the new face of Chanel.
Photo: Rex
Christy Turlington
As one third of the ‘Trinity’ (alongside Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista), Christy Turlington first started modeling to pay for her horse riding hobby. The stunning brunette gained fame in the early 90’s as the face of Prada, Maybelline, Burberry, and Calvin Klein. The American model boasts over 300 international magazine covers and even appeared in two documentaries and music videos.
Photo: Rex
Carla Bruni
Before she tied the knot with the former French President Nikolas Sarkozy, Italian-born Carla Bruni was modeling for prominent fashion designers and houses like Christian Dior, Givenchy, John Galliano, Chanel, and Versace. By the 90’s, the brunette bombshell was among the 20 highest paid models in the world before she quit modeling to pursue her singing career.
Photo: Rex
Nadja Auermann
Known for her sleek, long legs (45 inches, to be exact), the German model was discovered in a café in Berlin. But it wasn’t until after the blue-eyed beauty dyed her mane platinum that she became a booking-sensation. Auermann then went on to work with famed photographers Helmut Newton, Steven Meisel, and Nick Knight, appearing on a slew of international magazine covers and ruling the runways of renowned fashion houses.
Photo: Rex
Helena Christensen
Though Helena Christensen’s modeling career began unintentionally—she won the Miss Copenhagen competition thinking it was a charity event—her steady rise to success was no accident. After representing her country in the Miss Universe competition, Christensen began starring in major fashion magazines and campaigns for Chanel, Versace, and Victoria’s Secret, as well as walk catwalks all over the world. She became a spokesmodel for the cosmetics brand Revlon and appeared in the music video for the popular 90’s song Wicked Games by Chris Isaac before pursuing her love of photography.
Photo: Rex
Stephanie Seymour
Confident, elegant, and unapologetically scandalous, Stephanie Seymour ruled the headlines and runways throughout the 90s, landing appearances for multiple international magazine covers, posing for well-known photographers, and strutting the runways of prestigious fashion houses while serving as the face of Victoria’s Secret. The gorgeous brunette (who was Azzedine Alaïa’s muse), dallied outside of the fashion industry to star in music videos for pop rock group Guns 'n Roses with her former on-again, off-again love interest Axl Rose.Today, Seymour is married to avid art collector Peter Brant, and together the couple have four children—including two sons who took after their mother—and are often seen together at fashion weeks.
Photo: Rex
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Before we had Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and Kaia Gerber, there was a whole different generation of supermodels gazing at us from the covers of magazines, strutting down the runways of prestigious fashion houses, and playing muses to some of the most renowned designers. For a decade, these women ruled the catwalks and ultimately changed the fashion sphere forever. Take a trip down memory lane and click through the slides above to get reacquainted with the most iconic ‘90’s supermodels.

Now Read: You Won’t Believe How Much Gigi and Bella Hadid Earn From Their Modeling Career

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