- Cindy
[upbeat music]
- [Hamish] Any successful model might be described
as super,
but not every successful model is a supermodel.
That designation is most accurately used to describe a group
of one-name wonders who captivated popular culture
and became a phenomenon in the late 1980s in 1990s.
Hello, I'm your host Hamish Bowles,
here to sort the supers
from the icons and instagirls.
Here's everything you need to know about supermodels.
[slow jazzy music]
"I'm just a good clothes hanger,"
the iconic Swedish model,
Lisa Fonssagrives, later Mrs. Irving Penn,
once said, but
of course she was much more than that.
In 1949, she landed a cover of TIME magazine
and was dubbed advertising Billion-Dollar Baby.
She was a face with a name known
to the general public as Twiggy and Demande would later be.
Until the late 1960s fashion was still operating
in trickle-down mode.
With designers setting the tone
and the trends, which models,
even the biggest ones, like Veruschka,
Cheryl Tiegs, and Naomi Sims
communicated in silence.
One of the distinguishing characteristics
of the supermodels was
that they communicated with both their bodies and voices.
As Anna Wintour has said, "You looked
at them not because of what they were wearing,
but because of who they were."
Working in concert with designers, stylists,
beauty professionals and photographers,
they helped shape the look of the times.
Which was communicated
to an increasingly fashion fixated public
through a quickly expanding media landscape.
When Linda Evangelista, for example,
cut or colored her hair,
it was big news on and off the runway.
Evangelista made no effort to hide her chameleon qualities.
There was a matter to supermodeldom
that these beauties didn't discourage.
In fact, a number of models were involved
with the launch of the Fashion Cafe in New York in 1995.
The supermodels were the rock stars of fashion.
And the moment that remains the apotheosis
of the supermodel era was Gianni Versace's
Freedom 90 show.
At which Linda, Cindy, Naomi, and Christie walked
arm in arm down the runway, lip syncing
to George Michael's hit of the same name.
All of these women had starred in the music video
for the song, making for a mega and meta moment.
Each super represented a different facet of beauty.
Linda, Hollywood style drama and surprise.
Christy Turlington, an easy elegance.
Cindy Crawford projected a healthier American athleticism,
while Naomi Campbell, with her magic walk, was
an electric presence with London flair.
They truly were a dream team.
One that represented a modicum
of progress in terms of beauty standards and representation.
Linda and Christy Turlington insisted
that they wouldn't work
unless Naomi Campbell was hired as well,
at a time when there were few black models
on the runway.
And these models were womanly rather
than waify, the quality that distinguished the second wave
of supers, including Kate Moss, Amber Valletta,
Shalom Harlow, Stella Tennant, and Kirsty Hume.
The super's divadom was part
of their appeal, as revealed in the 1995 film
Unzipped.
As Sally Singer later wrote in Vogue,
this was an era in which
glamour required a significant measure
of transgression, not only of the rules
but of industry norms.
Prior to 1980, the models were scouted
and booked either for editorial work or
for runway work and never the twain did meet.
The supermodels could, and did, do it all.
Runway, editorial, TV, music videos, et cetera.
They occupied a space and culture that existed
between society and Hollywood celebrities.
And they lived in style,
seemingly existing on a diet of champagne and cigarettes.
Their preferred mode of transport was the Concorde.
Subsequent generations have perhaps dialed
down on the glam aspects of the job.
Over time,
the grungy wave uniform became a slightly more
polished MOD, or model off-duty look
of killer jeans and a Moto.
When they also took advantage of new social media
platforms to amplify their voices,
Vouge dubbed models like Karlie Kloss,
Cara Delevingne, and Joan Smalls
the instagirls on the cover of the September issue
in 2014.
And the likes of Gigi, Kendall, Precious, Bella, and Paloma,
one name wonders in their own right,
who've carried the super legacy
into the 2020s.
Linda, Christy, Naomi, Cindy,
and their gang have lost none of their appeal.
Donatella Versace staged a model reunion
to close her spring 2018 show.
Commemorating the 20th anniversary
of her brother Gianni's untimely death.
And Naomi's Vogue cover in November of 2020
proved the continued hold her generation has
on the fashion imagination.
As fashion changes, so do the faces.
The supermodels paved the way
for new generations of cat walkers and cover stars.
One of the ways Versace and other designers
are creating continuity between past
and present is by working with the sons, daughters,
and relatives of the models who wouldn't get out of bed
as Evangelista once joked in Vogue, for less than $10,000.
[upbeat music]