The Evolution of the Supermodel
From the living "mannequins" of the 1800s to the Insta-famous It girls of today.
In an industry as ever-changing as fashion, it follows that the role of a model should evolve right along with it. From the living "mannequins" of the 1800s, to the supers of the '90s and the Insta-famous It girls of today, we're taking a look back at the major players, most memorable moments, and biggest milestones that shaped the history of the fashion model.
Mid 1800s: The First Modern Model
In the mid 1800s, Charles Frederick Worth, the world's first couturier, also became the first designer to use live models instead of mannequins to market his clothing. (So basically, without Charles there would've been no Naomi, Cindy, Kate. Thanks Charles!)
Early 1900s: Models or Mannequins?
Confusing thing: In the early days, live models were still called "mannequins," like in this 1925 New York Times headline: "Berlin Society Girls Work as Mannequins." It means as live models in a fashion salon, but yeah, that's what they used the word mannequin for back then.
1920s: The World's First Modeling Agency
By the 1920s, modeling had become more of a visible job choice for women, with department stores and retailers across the U.S. regularly staging fashion shows with live models, and referring to them more as "models" than as "mannequins." Then, in New York City in 1923, John Powers opened the very first modeling agency.
1920s: And the First Modeling Schools, Too
Here, we see women at a "modeling school" in Berlin in 1928. (They're practicing their posture by standing one-footed with books on their heads. Tyra and J. Alexander would be so proud.)
1940s: The Photog-Model Connection
In the mid 19th century, the most in-demand photographers could really affect which models were in demand, too, by specifically requesting to work with those models. Here, photographer Horst P. Horst works with Lisa Fonssagrives, one of the biggest models of the 1940s. (Wrote the New York Times of Fonssagrives: "In the late 1940's, when most models were paid $10 to $25 an hour, she was earning $40 an hour.")
1940s: The Emergence of 'Big Name' Models
Model Dorian Leigh was one of the most popular models of the time, and appeared on no fewer than six Vogue covers.
1940s: The Emergence of 'Big Name' Models
Fiona Campbell-Walter, one of photographer Cecil Beaton's favorite models, struts her stuff during a run-through for a fashion show.
1951: The Emergence of 'Big Name' Models
Bettina is one of the earliest cases of a model who went by only her first name. She appeared on tons of magazine covers and designers loved her; in fact, Hubert de Givenchy was so fond of her that he named his hugely popular Bettina blouse after her.
1953: The Emergence of 'Big Name' Models
Barbara Goalen is often called the first British supermodel. What made her super? When she got married in 1954, the ceremony was mobbed with onlookers, in a testament to how famous models were becoming with the general public, not just the fashion industry.
1955
American model Carmen Dell'Orefice struts down the aisle of an airplane during a fashion show. (Yes, an in-air fashion show!) Unlike the other major models of the 1950s, Dell'Orefice just turned 85 and is still modeling today.
1955: The First Modeling Legacy Case
Suzy Parker, the younger sister of Dorian Leigh, followed in her sister's footsteps. In the period just after World War II, models were becoming celebrities," wrote the New York Times, and she was one of these first few. "When Miss Parker posed in one of fashion's first bikini shots, America noticed." (She looks pretty great in a cocktail dress, too.)
1950s: Way too Narrow Beauty Standards
Unfortunately, women of color in mid-century America didn't get nearly the same modeling opportunities as white women. Here we have Anne Marie Wooldridge in an advertising campaign for Dow Chemical's Saran Wrap, showing how non-white women could occasionally get a commercial advertisement, but weren't really being hired for high-fashion, editorial work just yet.
Late 1950s: Modeling Started to Really Mean Money
Suzy Parker, pictured here in 1957, was also the first model to earn $100,000 per year... and yeah, that's back in the '50s. Adjust that for inflation and it's like 1 trillion dollars in 2016 money.
1957
Dovima, another first-name-only model, in 1957. Dovima was known for personifying "the haughty, regal look of the 1950s" which, yep, she clearly nails here.
1950s
Bettina shows off a shantung dress with tweed jacket for a press show, with outfits by Hubert de Givenchy. Already, you can see how many people in the audience were fixated on the model's face, not the clothes!
1960s
French fashion designer Pierre Cardin poses with two models.
1964: The Models that Influenced Other Models
Pattie Boyd was the first wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, but before that, she was an in-demand model. (Later on, Twiggy said she was so influenced by Pattie Boyd's fame that she based her early look of Boyd and tried to copy her appearance.)
1964
Photographer David Bailey is credited with making Jean Shrimpton famous, but at the same time, his photographs of her helped make him more famous, too. Glamour named Shrimpton "model of the year" in 1963, though really, she was the model of the year for quite a few years in the early and mid '60s.
1965
"No one embodies the spirit of Mod quite like Peggy Moffitt, L.A.'s own 1960s-era muse," Booth Moore wrote of Moffitt in the L.A. Times. The striking Moffitt was such a good example of how a model could really represent the larger aesthetic that was fashionable at the time. (Moffitt in the '60s, Lauren Hutton in the '70s, Cindy Crawford in the '80s.)
1966: Black Models Start Becoming More Visible
Donyale Luna was the world's first black supermodel. Time dubbed 1966 "The Luna Year," while the New York Times called Luna "a stunning Negro model whose face had the hauteur and feline grace of Nefertiti."
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