The Original Supermodels

Linda Evangelista 

Image via Wikipedia

The term supermodel is generally used to describe a model who has achieved a high level of international fame and fortune. Such models are generally only referred to with his or her first name, as that is all is required to know who the person is on the fashion scene. The term supermodel wasn’t a popular term until what are now known as the original supermodels hit the fashion scene in the early 90s.

So who are the original supermodels? The group of original supermodels consists of Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and the lesser known Tatjana Patitz. These five women gained fame and notoriety when they all appeared in the film clip for the George Michael song Freedom. In the film clip they walked the runway, creating an image surpassing the “top model” image they already had. This, couple with Evangelista’s famous quote, ”we don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day” fuelled the worlds interest in what we now know as the supermodel.

The original five supermodels were quickly joined by several other well-known top models that were as equally beautiful and famous. Claudia Schiffer and Kate moss became just as well known as the original five. As the years went by and the original supermodels started to age gracefully, a new wave of supermodels gradually started to drift in. Faces such as Eva Herzigova, and Helena Christensen progressed the brand of the supermodel forward into the 2000s.

These days the supermodel click consists of names such as Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Giselle Bundchen, and the many beautiful girls of Victoria’s Secret.

 

Cindy Cawford, America’s Supermodel Darling

Cindy Crawford was born in Dekalb, Illinois. She was discovered at the age of sixteen while working a summer job detasseling corn. She entered the Elite Model Look of the Year and placed as the runner up. She graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class and won a full scholarship to study chemical engineering but dropped out after one quarter to pursue a full time modeling career. She moved to New York at the end of the 1980′s.

Cindy is best known for the mole above her lip. Early in her career, she was advised to remove it but never would. She was an extremely popular model and worked continuously for magazines such as Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Vogue. She was also featured in ad campaigns for Escada, Versace, and Revlon among others. She has branched out into other media also. She filmed her own workout videos in the early 1990′s and appeared in the opening of The Secret to My Success in 1987. She was the host of MTV’s House of Style in the early 1990′s and has appeared in several music videos. She has also appeared in several films including Fair Game and The Simian Line. Cindy retired from modeling in 2000 and went on to pursue other ventures.

She has developed her own line of skin care products in a partnership with Jean-Lous Sebagh called Meaningful Beauty. She has also designed The Cindy Crawford Home Collection that is sold in Rooms To Go stores and now other retailers across the United States and Canada. She has also designed lines for Art Van Furniture and most recently in 2009, designed a home collection for JCPenney. There are plans for her to expand the collection in 2010 to include apparel and other items.

Cindy currently resides in Malibu, California with her husband and two children.