The 20 Top Supermodels That Dominated Fashion In The ’80s

For Inès de La Fressange, becoming a fashion icon seemed to be written in the stars. Born to an Argentine model mother and French stockbroker father, a certain kind of pedigree was already on her side. Match this with the height and a gamine figure ideal for haute couture, and it was inevitable that Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld would come knocking (a resemblance to the brand’s founder, Coco Chanel, also helped). The designer signed her up for an exclusive contract, making her the face of the fabled maison. Since, she has lent her likeness to the bust of Marianne, the national emblem of the French Republic; wrote the book Parisian Chic: A Style Guide; created a line with Uniqlo; and signed on as the brand ambassador for Roger Vivier.

Since being discovered by photographer Peter Beard, Iman has broken barriers throughout her career. The Somalia-born model was one of the few Black faces in high fashion at the time, resulting in designers and makeup artists having little to no experience working with her skin tone. “I knew I had to do something about that,” she told BAZZAR.com earlier this year. “I went from high-end department stores to even Woolworth at that time, bought whatever makeup I could find that had some pigment, and started mixing and matching them, and putting it on my face. My image was currency, so I had to take control.” She has parlayed that experience into a beauty empire, Iman Cosmetics. Throughout the decades, she also became the muse of countless designers (especially Thierry Mugler and Yves Saint Laurent), is an ambassador to numerous philanthropic organisations, and married Ziggy Stardust himself, David Bowie.

Heralded as “Asia’s first supermodel,” Anna Bayle sashayed down the catwalks of Valentino, Christian Lacroix, and Oscar de la Renta; fronted the biggest campaigns; and graced countless magazine covers, including international editions of Harper’s BAZAAR. All this was a far cry from her days as a premed student at the University of the Philippines. Since leaving her storied modelling career, she founded an eponymous line of lipsticks and dabbled in journalism. The fashion industry may be long behind her, but her legacy, her being the first Asian to reach the heights of her profession, continues to inspire today.

The trope of models dating rock stars essentially started with Jerry Hall. From Bryan Ferry to Mick Jagger (with whom she had a common law marriage), the Texas-born beauty and second coming of Veronica Lake had some of the most highly publicised relationships. But before all these affairs, she took the fashion industry by storm, walking every major runway, gracing more glossies than anyone at the time, and commanding hefty paychecks. Hall may be a Southern belle, but her career proves that she was also a boss.

Katoucha Niane faced adversities well before her modelling career began. Born in Guinea, she was forced into exile as a child, underwent a female circumcision at nine years old, and was married and had a child at 17. The fact that she became the muse to Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne—despite these circumstances and skin colour—is a testament to her perseverance. She eventually made Paris her home and left the modelling world behind in the ’90s to focus on activism. Niane returned to the limelight in 2005 to host France's Next Top Model.

Elle Macpherson was Australia’s answer to Christie Brinkley (see below); she was the embodiment of the girl next door. In fact, she only pursued modelling to save money for law books at Sydney University. But with her fresh-faced look and Amazonian figure (she was coined “The Body” by TIME magazine), it was clear that a career as a litigator just wasn’t in the cards. Throughout the ’80s, she would appear in a slew of magazine covers, including a record-five on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Long before Gisele Bündchen and Alessandra Ambrosio stomped down the runway, Cristina Córdula was the original Brazilian beauty dominating the fashion world. Already known in her native country for appearing in advertisements, Córdula was catapulted to the international stage after taking a friend’s suggestion and chopping off her hair. The look garnered the attention of the leading maisons, and she soon became a fixture at shows for Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent.

Marpessa Hennink didn’t let a rejection from the Eileen Ford agency (one of the top modelling firms at the time) stop her from fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a model. With introductions made by noted fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, the Amsterdam native met with the leading designers of the day, including Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld and Azzedine Alaïa. She became a constant in their runways shows, along with those by Valentino, Christian Lacroix, Oscar de la Renta, and Kenzo. By the ’90s, she packed up her heels and moved to Spain to become an interior designer.

From Christian Dior’s Gianfranco Ferré to Valentino, Dalma Callado was the muse of the biggest designers in the ’80s. Her career began after she left her native Brazil at 19 years old to go to France and try her luck. Fortune, as it would appear, was on her side. Along with the aforementioned names, she walked the runaways of Chanel, Givenchy, and Versace; graced a slew of magazine covers; and starred in lucrative campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent.

Isabella Rossellini has a face tailor-made for the screen. The Roman actress and model is, after all, the daughter of Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman and film director Roberto Rossellini. Taking note of her movie star looks was Lancôme, the fragrance and cosmetics company that signed her up for a contract that lasted 14 years. She also fronted numerous magazine covers over the decades. Not to be outdone was her career in Hollywood (with parents like hers, it was inevitable). Rossellini starred in celebrated films, including Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her, and Silver Linings Playbook. In 2018, 22 years after she was deemed too old at 43, Lancôme reinstated her as the brand ambassador.

Brooke Shields began her modleling career very young, at 11 months old to be exact, appearing in a 1960 commercial for Ivory soap. The New York native then parlayed that exposure to roles in feature films, including Pretty Baby and Endless Love, where she was the embodiment of Lolita. This typecasting was epitomised in television commercials for Calvin Klein jeans, where, at the age of 14, she cooed, “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” She eventually shed that image, attended Princeton University, and starred in a number of acclaimed television shows (long live Lipstick Jungle).

Carol Alt was the original flashy girl from Flushing. The Queens native dominated the modelling world in the ’80s, garnering contracts with CoverGirl, Givenchy, Hanes, Diet Pepsi, and, yes, even General Motors. She also fronted many leading magazines, including the highly coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and Harper’s BAZAAR. By the middle part of the decade, she tried her hand at acting, appearing in a number of films and television series.

Farida Khelfa was 15 years old when she left her strict Muslim household for the bright lights of Paris. There, she was discovered by photographer Jean-Paul Goude, who introduced her to designer Azzedine Alaïa. Over the decade, Khelfa served as one of Alaïa’s muses, walking his runway shows and gracing magazine spreads in his sleek, sultry designs. She also had the same relationship with Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Louboutin. Over the years, Khelfa has produced documentaries, served as brand ambassador for Schiaparelli, and recently walked the catwalk of Fendi.

Christie Brinkley was the ultimate uptown girl. To wit: She starred in the music video of the same name by Billy Joel, who she eventually married. Blonde and blue-eyed, she epitomised the idea of the girl next door, the quintessential pinup of the ’80s. And her numerous covers on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and 25-year contract as the face of CoverGirl is proof of this sentiment.

It means something when Angelina Jolie plays you in a biopic. Indeed, Gia Carangi was celebrated for her beauty; she had a look that was beloved by photographers, including Richard Avedon, Arthur Elgort, and Francesco Scavullo, all of whom shot her for the major glossies. But as the film, Gia, depicts, her life outside the photo studio was riddled with problems: drug addiction and complications from HIV/AIDS. Still, Carangi broke ground in her short—but impactful—career. She is celebrated for being the first openly LGBTQ+ model.

 

A $6,000,000 contract with Estée Lauder solidified Paulina Porizkova’s dominance in the fashion industry. It was the highest sum paid to a model at the time, but having appeared on numerous photo spreads and strutting on every major designer catwalk, those zeros were well deserved. From the covers of Harper’s BAZAAR to campaigns for Chanel, Christian Dior, and Revlon, Porizkova’s prevalence in the ’80s was hard to avoid. Surprisingly, she describes the start of her career as an accident. At 13 years old, while living in Sweden (Porizkova is originally from Czechoslovakia), she let her friend, a burgeoning makeup artist, paint her for her portfolio. Soon enough, talent scouts got ahold of the images, and, as she said in an Instagram post, the rest “is history.”

A favourite of photographer Richard Avedon, Kim Alexis was the subject of many indelible fashion images—from covers of Harper’s BAZAAR to campaigns for Versace. She had the quintessential look of the ’80s: blonde, blue eyed, and tanned skinned. This led her to signing a contract with Revlon, replacing ’70s icon Lauren Hutton.

Fans of America’s Next Top Model know Janice Dickinson as the tough-as-nails judge who claims to be the “first supermodel.” Though that distinction is highly debatable, there is no denying her popularity in the ’80s. She walked the runways and starred in campaigns for Giorgio Armani, Valentino, and Oscar de la Renta, and covered Harper’s BAZAAR several times. Dickinson accomplished all this even after she was told by modelling agent Eileen Ford that she looked too “exotic” and “ethnic”—even though her ancestry is Polish and English.

Kelly Emberg and her then boyfriend, Rod Stewart, were one of the It couples in the ’80s, attending the most glamorous events and attracting headlines along the way. Her career, too, also garnered top billing. Discovered in her native Houston, where she was a high school cheerleader, Emberg went on to front covers for Harper’s BAZAAR and garner contracts with brands including CoverGirl and Calvin Klein.

Before Kelly LeBrock became the fantasy girl, the ideal representation of beauty, in films like The Woman in Red and Weird Science, she was one of the most in-demand models in the ’80s. The English native started her career in New York, where she quickly attracted the attention of editors who placed her front and centre of their magazines. Christian Dior also took note, signing her up for a contract that lasted decades.