In the fashion world, Charles Frederick Worth, who was called the father of haute couture, was the first person to exhibit his designs with a live model, who was disturbed by the boredom and soullessness of inanimate models.
Modeling career, which started with Marie Augustine Vernet in 1853, became very popular in those years. Contrary to today's criteria, models in those years had to be the same body size as their customers. For example, if the owner of the dress gained weight, the model should also gain weight.
Creative shots
By the 1920s, the modeling profession moved to a more professional dimension with the school and agency opened by John Robert Powers. In 1940, photographer-model relations developed, and creative shoots flourished when photographers such as Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, and Man Ray started working with fashion magazines Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. This made Swedish model Lisa Fonssagrives the first supermodel in history. Lisa, who is well known for frequently appearing on the covers of Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar magazines, was paid $40, unlike models that averaged $10-25 per hour.
Lisa Fonssagrives (17 May 1911 – 4 February 1992), was a Swedish model, dancer, sculptor, and photographer. She is widely credited with having been the first supermodel. (Top photo)
Another important name of the period was the first French supermodel Bettina and one of the first muses of Hubert de Givenchy. Givenchy named her first collection, released in 1952, after her, and Bettina also inspired the bottle design of the best-selling perfume Amarige. The only name Bettina competed with at the time was Britain's most photographed model, Barbara Goalen. Goalen, who brought fashion houses such as Dior and Balenciaga to the top with her striking lines and slim-waisted structure in her successful modeling life of only six years, became an important name embodying the "New Look" charm after the war. The rebellious beauty and androgynous image that started in the 60s changed the beauty laws of the fashion world, especially with the influence of Diana Vreeland, the most popular editor of the period. Instead of the stereotypical shots that have not changed for years, more avant-garde and free photographs took place in the magazines.
Androgynous appearance
The full line-thin waist feminine look in the hourglass form, which has been preferred since 1853, has left its place to the weak, straight form and short hair, that is, androgynous, with the discovery of Twiggy. This innovation still affects the model selection. Deer-eyed, size zero model Twiggy captured the spirit of the era and was named Face of the Year - British Woman of the Year in 1966 and became a supermodel that influenced women's style.
In the 70s, a rich variety of female models and style icons arose under the influence of phenomena such as disco, feminism, retro-futurism, daisy children/bohemianism, and aerobics/fitness. Tall Amazon women with long hair, representing power and freedom, in contrast to the babyish women of the 60s, became the trend. Cher, Jane Birkin, and Barbara Streisand were the style icons of that period, Jean Paul Gaultier's muse Grace Jones, Thierry Mugler's Angel Jerry Hall, Gia Carangi, who started her career with a rapid rise and ended with tragedy, Iman, the representative of sophisticated beauty, and Janice Dickinson, who declared herself as the world's first supermodel, were the most famous.
The supermodel phenomenon of the 90s, which emerged over the years with the influence of the magnificence, luxury, and wealth of the 80s, started with the creative visions of famous photographers Peter Lindbergh and Anna Wintour. With Wintour taking over as editor-in-chief, American Vogue underwent a major transformation and featured free and dynamic women, whom we had never seen before, as the standard of demeanor and beauty in the cover shoots. Vogue's 1988 issue of Vogue's January 1990 cover shoot, featuring models posing laughingly in white shirts instead of haute couture dresses on California beaches, and later Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford, was actually a shot that ensured the golden age of the '90s had begun. Inspired by this cover shoot, George Michael featured models in his music video (Freedom! '90). After the hit video, the models also took part in the music video for "Too Funky" directed by Thierry Mugler. And soon enough, four of the quintet on the cover of the magazine became truly iconic with their debut on Gianni Versace's 1991 fall-winter show. Names such as Claudia Schiffer, Karen Mulder, Eva Herzigova, Shalom Harlow, and Tyra Banks joined this quartet of supermodels shortly after. They all managed to embody the new ideal woman that Peter Lindbergh and Anna Wintour dreamed of. The status of supermodel, which turned into a global phenomenon, of course also required great work discipline, pace, and dedication.
In 1991, Tyra Banks took part in 25 different fashion shows, which was a record for those years. Shortly after the release of her famous Vogue cover, Christy Turlington signed a contract with Maybelline for $800,000. Linda Evangelista, who is called the chameleon of fashion shows with her hair color she changed 17 times, wore a total of 12 outfits at Karl Lagerfeld's fall fashion show in 1991. Her statement in an interview with Vogue summed up how high the status of supermodels in the '90s was. “I wouldn't even get out of my bed for less than $10,000! “.
Another important reason why the models of the 90s became world-famous stars was that the fashion industry became very powerful in the media in those years and took its place in popular culture and became an area of interest and research by large masses. While the supermodels of the 90s were managing their brands, they were not only interested in fashion; they acted in films, created perfume brands, recorded music albums (Naomi's "Babywoman" album is still popular in Japan), released fitness tapes (one in three women had Cindy Crawford's exercise videotapes at that time), and were actively involved in social activities, charity work (Claudia Schiffer became UNICEF Ambassador, Naomi Campbell founded an association to prevent death, Christy Campbell was active in the fight against racism). Towards the end of the 90s, the article "The Fall of the Supermodel" in Time magazine announced that the popularity of this phenomenon had begun to lose its former shine. With the perception of "heroin chic", which became a trend with the "grunge" trend, the tall and healthy-looking models were replaced by those with much leaner, pale skin and dull eyes. With Kate Moss, the embodiment of this trend, the fashion world has evolved in a different direction. Then came models like Jamie King and Jodie Kidd, who started the extreme thinness/anorexia fashion of the 2000s.
Newbies are always 'viral'
After the 2000s, with the digital revolution, the concept began to evolve as a result of the fact that no movement could dominate society alone, image and information density, and ease of access to everything. Today's supermodels are Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk, Kendall Jenner, Anok Yai, and Kaia Gerber; They are like muses for many designers and are influential by 'viral' their fashion shows. According to many fashion critics, current models are described as "temporary digital phenomena" or "modern people of the digital age". We'll have to wait at least another 10 years to see if they'll make as strong an impact as the supermodels of the '90s.
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The world’s first supermodel was more than ‘just a clothes-hanger’
https://nypost.com/2017/04/17/the-worlds-first-supermodel-was-more-than-just-a-clothes-hanger/