A Model History

Modelinia.com has launched the History of Models (www.modelinia.com/timeline), where viewers can see where the hottest models of yesterday and today got their start.

History of Models is an interactive time line, spanning 80 years and traces the evolution of models throughout history.

In addition to the time line, Modelinia.com features web-videos about the different eras in model history (Society Girls and Hollywood Glamour, American Beauty and Hyper-Stylized Fashion, The Awakening and Disco Revolution, The Rise and Fall of the Supermodel and Beauty INC.). The videos are directed by famed fashion-film director, Doug Keeve, and feature interviews with models like Iman, Paulina Porizkova, Hilary Rhoda, Linda Evangelista and many more.


History of Models: The Eras

Modelinia.com is launching the History of Models: The Eras in May. It will be an interactive timeline, spanning 80 years that traces the evolution of models throughout history. As history progressed and changed, so did the models. From the first models that were socialites to the models that created a brand out of their names, models have developed from nameless faces into household names.

Society Girls (1930s to early 1940s)

Society Girls were prim and proper, went to charm school, had excellent manners and etiquette and could be identified by their white gloves. They were chosen as models because women looked up to them.
• The Girls
o Anita Colby
• The Moments
o 1930- Madame Vionett dominates Haute Couture
o 1932- First VOGUE color cover
o 1932- Amelia Earhart is the first women to fly across the Atlantic
o 1933- Lacoste Polo is invented
o 1937- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first full-length animated feature film
o 1937- The novel Gone with the Wind wins a Pulitzer Prize and goes on to become an Academy-Award winning film

Hollywood Glamour (Early 1940s-late 1950s)

After the Depression, Madison Avenue Executives were on the rise. This era is characterized by Hollywood Glamour and the statuesque and lady like models. The models of this time were the muses for famed photographers Richard Avedon and Irving Penn.
• The Girls
o Dorian Leigh
o Suzy Parker
• She was the first model to earn more than $100 per hour. She was called the “face of post-war Hollywood glamour”
o Lisa Fonssagrives
o Dovima
o Sunny Hartnett
o Mary Jane Russell
o Barbara Mullen
• The Moments
o 1941- Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, sending the US into World War II
o 1944- Dorian Leigh is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar
o 1945- World War II ends
o 1947- Christian Dior premiered his first post-war designs, appropriately called “The New Look” and the “Bar Suit” for women
o 1947- Eileen Ford becomes the first women to open a modeling agency, Ford Models
o 1949- Lisa Fonssagrives appears on the September 19th cover of TIME Magazine
The Awakening (1960s)

During this era, people were inspired by freedom, individuality, and the new frontier. People went from straight laced to quirky looks inspired by British influences.
• The Girls
o Twiggy
o Jean Shrimpton
o Penelope Tree
o Peggy Moffitt
o Verushka
• The Moments

o 1961-Jackie O becomes a style icon with her pill box hats and large sunglasses
o 1963- Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I Have A Dream” speech
o 1963- JFK is assassinated
o 1964- Babette March covers the first issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition
o 1967- Mattel releases a Twiggy doll
o 1967- Wilhelmina Agency opens
o 1969- Catherine Hepburn stars in “Coco”, a Broadway musical play about Coco Chanel’s life
o 1969- Woodstock Festival held in Upstate New York
o 1969- Neil Armstrong walks on the moon

Disco (1970s)

The era of disco is depicted by scandal, decadence, glamour, gold and excess. The models of the time were more ethnic looking than their predecessors.
• The Girls
o Iman
o Dayle Haddon
o Pat Cleveland
o Cheryl Tiegs
o Marissa Berenson
• She was called the “girl of the 70’s”.
o Beverly Johnson
o Patti Hansen
o Jerry Hall
o Lauren Hutton
• She was called the anecdote to 70’s excess
• The Moments
o 1972- Diane Von Furstenberg created the wrap dress
o 1972- Elite Agency in Paris opens
o 1973- Lauren Hutton becomes the first model to sign an exclusive cosmetics contract (with Revlon)
o 1974- Beverly Johnson was the 1st African American model on the cover of American VOGUE
o 1976- Charlie’s Angels TV show premieres
o 1977- Helmut Newton shoots the Yves Saint Laurent Opium ad with Jerry Hall
o 1977- Studio 54 opens in New York City

Poster Girls (Late 1970s to 1980s)
The models of this era are classified by being healthy, all-American and girls of summer. Models started becoming brands, creating their own posters and starring in movies. Models came off the catwalk and into your home and men started becoming familiar with them.
• The Girls
o Christy Brinkley
o Carol Alt
o Elle Macpherson
o Brooke Shields
o Paulina Porizkova
o Kathy Ireland
o Patti Hansen

• The Moments

o 1980- Brooke Shields stars in Blue Lagoon
o 1981- Brooke Shields models in the Calvin Klein Jeans ad “Nothing comes between me and my Calvin’s”
o 1981- MTV Premieres
o 1983- Flashdance premieres
o 1984- Miami Vice premieres
o 1989- Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue with Kathy Ireland becomes the best-selling issue
Rise of the Supermodel (Late 1980s to Early 2000s)

Models become larger than life and become off the runway personalities. Music met fashion and models started to date rock stars and become celebrities of their own.
• The Girls
o Christy Turlington
o Naomi Campbell
o Linda Evangelista
• She said she didn’t “wake up for less than $10,000 a day.”
o Cindy Crawford
o Stephanie Seymour
o Iman

• The Moments

o 1983- Cindy Crawford was a finalist in Elite Model Management’s Look of the Year Competition
o 1989- House of Style hosted by Cindy Crawford
o 1990- George Michael’s Freedom video
o 1992- Stephanie Seymour is featured in the Guns ‘n Roses November Rain video
o 1993- Cindy Crawford is on the cover of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People issue
o 1994- Fashion Café opens
o 1995- First Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
o 1997- Cindy Crawford’s famous Pepsi Super Bowl Commercial
The Waif (Early to Mid 1990s)

This was the grunge era. Girls looked less bodacious and more waif like. The era of the supermodel was winding down and the girls of the Waif the exact opposite of the girls who came before them.
• The Girls
o Kate Moss
• She was the anti-supermodel at just 5’8”.
o Shalom Harlow
o James King
o Milla Jovovich
o Amber Valletta

• The Moments

o 1990- Alexander McQueen emerges as a fresh new designer
o 1991- Kurt Cobain and his band, Nirvana, bring the alternative rock grunge movement to the masses with their single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
o 1992- Marc Jacobs created the “grunge look”
INC Girls (Late 1990s to 2000s)

Models become the brands and start business ventures with their names. It is the culmination of empowerment and brand ownership.
• The Girls
o Tyra Banks
o Heidi Klum
o Kathy Ireland
o Cindy Crawford
o Christy Turlington
o Iman
o Brooke Shields
o Kate Moss
o Gisele Bundchen

• The Moments

o 1994- Iman launches cosmetics line, IMAN
o 1996- Suddenly Susan, starring Brooke Shields, premieres on TV
o 1999- Christy Turlington launches a yoga line, Nuala, with Puma and a skin care line, Sundari
o 2003- Kathy Ireland inks a deal with Kmart to launch an apparel line in 3000 stores
o 2004- Project Runway premieres on Bravo and goes on to win 4 Emmy nominations
o 2005- Kate Moss signs deal with Top Shop
o 2006- America’s Next Top Model premieres and is syndicated on 3 networks in the US
o 2008- Gisele Bundchen tops the Forbes Top Earning Model List in 2008 at $35 million
o 2008- Lipstick Jungle, starring Brooke Shields, premieres on TV
o 2009- Cindy Crawford launches Cindy Crawford Home Collection

Millennium Girls (Today)

This is the current incarnation of modeling. There are different modeling paths that people can take—runway and editorial or commercial. The challenge for women today is to extend beyond just one category of modeling and cross over to have both editorial and commercial success.
• The Girls
o Editorial
• Jessica Stam
• Isabeli Fontana
• Coco Rocha
• Natalia Vodianova
• Lily Donaldson
• Agyness Deyn
• Chanel Iman
• Hilary Rhoda
• Daria Werbowy
• Jourdan Dunn
• Lakshmi Menon
o Commercial
• Marisa Miller
• Bar Rafaeli
• Adriana Lima
• Alessandra Ambrosio
• Miranda Kerr
• The Moments
o 2000’s- Inclusion in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition allows girls to gain notoriety outside fashion
o 2001- The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show airs on ABC to 12.4 million viewers
o 2009- The Gap and H&M campaigns feature the editorial faces of today
o 2009- Harpers Bazaar’s April Issue is released and includes a collection of its iconic covers throughout history
o 2009- VOGUE’s May Issue is released and includes a round table discussion between the models of today and the models of yesterday
o 2009- The MET Exhibit is Model as Muse opens

(B&W image: model Gia Carangi 1960-1986)