Models are the faces of fashion.
But a supermodel has clearly hustled her way to celebrity status.
In a cutthroat industry, where almost everyone can claim to be a "model" on Instagram, these
women have established themselves as the most beautiful supermodels in the world.
Gigi Hadid has become the face of the next generation of supermodels.
"Like when I'm working out like s--- I don't wanna do this anymore.
But then when I'm shooting I'm like I'll do another 3 million sit-ups if you want."
While Hadid broke in via New York Fashion Week, her career was swiftly aided by her
social media skills.
Along with sister Bella and friends like Kendall Jenner, Hadid helped ring in the era of what
Harper's Bazaar calls, the quote, "social media model."
But not everyone was thrilled with this new direction.
Actress and model Rebecca Romijn told Entertainment Tonight,
"I know a lot of people, legitimate fashion people, can't stand it.
Hate it that these, you know, social media stars are now the supermodels in fashion.
They are not true supermodels."
But even so, Hadid's future appears to be nothing but bright.
She told Vogue,
"I get to work with people who have loved what they do for 30, 40 and 50 years.
That's what I'm going to be like."
"My superhero name: G-force…You guys already know that."
As one of the legendary "Super Six," Naomi Campbell has more than earned her place in
the modelling hierarchy.
Campbell worked hard through the early '80s and '90s, to become the first black model
on the cover of Vogue Paris as well as the first on the coveted September issue of Vogue.
The secret to her success?
"Just being honest about who you are and giving 110 percent."
She told The Guardian,
"I wasn't being booked for certain shows because of the colour of my skin.
I understood what it meant to be black.
You had to put in the extra effort.
You had to be twice as good."
"Just looking at the picture reminds me of what was going on at that whole time in my
life."
Campbell soon became part of the "Trinity" of the fashion world with Linda Evangelista
and Christy Turlington.
Campbell has since enjoyed the recognition she deserves, and received the Fashion Icon
Award at the CFDA Awards in spring 2018.
An original angel for Victoria's Secret, Adriana Lima is one of the best-known models for the
brand — having officially hung up her wings for good, in 2018.
"Every minute that I worked with Victoria's Secret, it was the greatest time of my life."
But this seasoned pro isn't wasting any time doubting the younger generation.
She told E! News,
"You know, [Kendall Jenner] works as hard as we do, so I give her credit for all the
effort."
Even after retiring from Victoria's Secret, Lima's career charged forward.
She appeared with Jenner in the 2019 Miu Miu cruise campaign and was the face of the PUMA
by Maybelline collaboration.
Lima revealed to People,
"I have been working a lot and am continuing to work on new projects and taking care of
my two beautiful daughters.
Life is just as busy as it has always been and I love it that way."
“There is a lot of positive messages in fashion.
Those messages are the ones that I will embrace."
Jourdan Dunn is a relative newcomer to the fashion scene, but she's definitely one of
its rising stars.
At 17, Dunn walked for Polo Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs for 2007's New York Fashion Week.
Dunn has since covered Vogue multiple times, and been featured in countless campaigns for
brands like Burberry, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, and Kate Spade.
To top it off, in 2014 she became the new face of Maybelline New York.
In her personal life, Dunn advocates to end sickle-cell anemia.
Her son, Riley, was diagnosed with the disease at a young age.
"What I love about being a mom is just the unconditional love that I have for my child,
and that he has for me."
She told the Independent,
"I took it for granted that I had a great career in front of me, but now I realize my
opportunities — the fact that I can provide for my family and be an ambassador for sickle-cell
disease and raise awareness."
It's no secret that the fashion world is skinny-obsessed.
But Robyn Lawley would rather not be labelled as a "plus-size" model for wearing a size
U.S. 12, two sizes smaller than the average American woman.
She told Cosmo,
"Personally, I hate the term plus-size.
It's ridiculous and derogatory, it puts women down and it puts a label on them.
Women love seeing women they can relate to."
"I just try to be the best I can be.
Which is definitely not skinny but strong."
Lawley has landed on covers of multiple magazines, walked in Milan Fashion Week, and debuted
campaigns for Mango, Ralph Lauren, and Lane Bryant.
She was even the first "plus-sized" model on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit
edition.
Assisting managing editor MJ Day told Time that she had been wanting to book Lawley for
years, saying,
"She’s interesting, she’s beautiful, she has an incredible body, and I felt that she
would make a great addition to the issue.
It was simple as that."
"Hi everyone, I'm Fei Fei Sun."
Fei Fei Sun is one of the world's leading Chinese models.
She is credited as the first Asian woman to land a solo cover of Vogue Italia, and in
2014, she made her American Vogue debut for the September issue.
And while she's appeared in campaigns for Prada and Chanel, this glamorous star had
humble beginnings.
As she told Vogue Italia, Sun was born in a small town in Northern China.
After her mother enrolled her in a modelling school to fix her posture, Sun became fascinated
with the career and enrolled at Soochow University, for fashion design.
She went on to gain prominence in the Chinese market throughout the mid-2000s before settling
in New York City, telling the mag,
"I am grateful to all those who have helped me so far.
But I haven't yet reached the pinnacle of my career.
I'm still moving ahead."
At 13 years old, Miranda Kerr won a model search and landed her first cover.
She found some success in Australia and then broke into the American market with Maybelline.
A couple years later she became the first Australian Victoria's Secret Angel.
Kerr is no doubt beautiful, consistently ranking as one of the most gorgeous models.
But in 2010 Kerr got some embarrassing proof that she's got a lot of fans, when an Australian
banker was caught viewing explicit photos of Kerr in the background of a televised interview.
When the banker almost lost his job because of it, Kerr came to the rescue, telling the
BBC,
"I am told there is a petition to save his job, and of course I would sign it."
Bhumika Arora is a relative newcomer to the modelling scene, having started in her mid-20s
and breaking out at 27.
That year she walked in Fashion Week Paris, London, and Milan.
But Arora claims she won't go topless or wear sheer clothing, telling Elle,
"It's my decision and it's to do with my culture.
I do feel guilty for giving designers another thing to worry about when they're trying to
put together their shows, but I still can't do it.
People have been understanding."
"If I'm doing something I do not want any kind of negativity coming through."
Despite the challenges, Arora is blazing the trail for future Indian models, telling Vogue
India,
"Beauty is beauty, irrespective of race, colour and gender."
The daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, Hailey Bieber, formerly Hailey Baldwin, is no stranger
to the limelight.
She made her runway debut by walking for Topshop in 2014.
And as one of the social media models palling around with Kendall and Gigi, she quickly
caught people's attention.
Bieber has ticked all the boxes for modern supermodel stardom, with a Vogue cover, and
walking in New York Fashion Week.
Then, of course, there's her marriage to Justin Bieber in 2018.
The public is fixated on the couple, and not all of the attention is positive.
Nevertheless, Bieber became the face of Levi's just months after the wedding.
Ashley Graham is currently one of the most popular plus-size models.
"The myth is, the bigger the bikini, the smaller looking the body…the smaller the bikini,
the better looking the body."
Graham had a steady career throughout the 2000s, but it was a controversy in 2010 that
really launched her stardom, when her Lane Bryant ad was banned by ABC.
According to the New York Post, Graham shot back at the time,
“[ABC] can’t handle bigger on TV, bigger boobs on a normal-sized woman on TV.”
In 2016 Graham finally landed on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
And she's been riding that wave ever since.
"For all those women out there that have struggled with loving the skin that they're in, this
issue is truly for you.”
She told Australia Vogue,
"I love hearing from fans, I love hearing just all the incredible different types of
stories, I answer my DMs, it's important to have a dialogue about not just body diversity,
but loving who you are."
"Oh I didn't know you were here."
Aamito Lagum is the next top model you'll be hearing a lot about.
Lagum won the first season of Africa's Next Top Model and is one of the most successful
contestants of the entire franchise.
"Africa's Next Top Model is Aamito."
Despite her look, Lagum never thought she'd become a model, telling Women's Wear Daily,
"In my country, people who are tall and skinny are not celebrated that much.
They usually like a lady to be curvy.
I didn't feel unique…I didn't feel womanly or feminine.
I didn't feel beautiful when I was growing up."
After her win, Lagum signed with Boss Model Management and debuted in 2015 walking for
Marc Jacobs, H&M, and Hermes.
She's since appeared in Vogue around the world.
The New York Times named Liu Wen as China's quote, "first bona fide supermodel" in 2012.
Whether or not that's actually true, Wen is certainly a holder of many firsts.
She's the first Chinese model to walk for Victoria's Secret, to cover American Vogue,
and to make the Forbes' highest-paid models list.
Oh, and she's the first Asian woman to become a spokesmodel for Estée Lauder.
Wen admitted to Marie Claire that when people ask her how she's gotten so successful, she's
not sure she has an answer,
"Sometimes I don't know!
Many girls and models have different skin tones, it is the people they are that makes
them unique."
Cara Delevingne is considered one of the quote "new supers," according to Models.com — and
for good reason.
She was scouted by Burberry and began her rise to fame in 2012.
And in just one year she'd walked for dozens of brands at all the Fashion Weeks and the
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
But in 2015 Delevingne quit modelling due to the stress.
She told The Times,
"It didn't make me grow at all as a human being.
And I kind of forgot how young I was.
I felt so old."
"We are not one thing.
We are many things.
Many, many, many things."
She returned in 2018, though, walking for Burberry.
Adwoa Aboah has roots in Ghana but was raised in England by her parents, a fashion photographer
agent mother and a location scout father.
Yet even with those connections, a younger Aboah would have never thought she'd one day
be on the cover of Vogue.
She told the outlet,
"I was unsure of myself, and lost, a young girl who had no idea who she was."
"I think I was very unsure about the industry, and also very unsure of who I was."
She founded the Gurls Talk organization in 2017 which facilitates female-driven dialogue
around wellness.
She was inspired by her own struggles with mental health and drug abuse, telling Elle,
"I've been lucky enough to have been given a platform through modeling, so now I can
use it as an activist."
"Maybe that reflects who I am.
I'm an open book."
Lara Stone helped herald what Vogue calls the quote, "Dutch Invasion," with her 2007
cover of Vogue Paris.
W magazine would name her "Fashion's It Girl" and declare that she had one of the most wanted
faces and bodies in the business.
Even her tooth gap was trending.
At the height of her popularity, Stone signed with Calvin Klein, but her success was not
without its pitfalls.
In 2009, Stone checked herself into rehab for alcoholism, telling Harper's Bazaar,
"One day I woke up and thought, I can't live like this anymore."
Stone helped shape fashion in the mid-2000s, and continues to stomp the runway.
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