THE GOLDEN AGE
As the world reawakened after the horrors and austerity of World War II, the fashion world's first supermodels arose.
Bettina Graziani
THE CULT OF PERSONALITY
Seventy million teenagers came of age in America during the 1960s, and as a group, they sought to express themselves outside of the rigid norms of their parents, celebrating imperfection and eccentricity—values reflected in the models who came to prominence in the period.
Jean Shrimpton
Naomi Sims
THE BEAUTY REVOLUTION
Spurred in part by the massive growth of the advertising industry, the 1970s reimagined the individualism of 1960s fashion and gave it a sexy, decadent gloss.
Jerry Hall
Janice Dickinson
THE MILLION-DOLLAR FACES
The financial boom of the 1980s saw fitter, bustier models dropping the bad-girl antics of the 1970s and getting down to business, hoping to garner exclusive brand representation deals.
Christie Brinkley
Paulina Porizkova
THE SUPERMODELS
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, mass media had energized the fashion industry. The muses of famous photographers and designers were becoming bigger than their clients, which put them in a greater position of power than ever before.
Helena Christenson
THE ANDROGYNES
As youth culture turned away from the artifice and glitz of the bombshell supermodels and toward the authentic and alternative, fashion brands followed suit, and a group of androgynous anti-models became stars for a time.
Kristen McMenamy
THE CONTEMPORARIES
The internet and social media are hugely influential on fashion today, so it should come as no surprise that contemporary supermodels often possess a talent for self-branding and a willingness to share digital self-portraits and personality on social media.
Coco Rocha
Kate Upton
View this video on YouTube
Watch the book trailer for Models of Influence, featuring Nigel Barker.
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