London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 23, 2025

21 Stunning Vintage Photos of the World's First Supermodels

21 Stunning Vintage Photos of the World's First Supermodels

I'm talking '80s runways here, ppl!

Can we talk about the first supermodels real quick? I mean, the supermodels of the '80s. I know what you're thinking: But "supermodel" = the '90s, right?? Well, no. Before Tyra, Cindy, Kate, and their fellow one-name wonders literally took over the fashion world, there were the '80s girls: Janice, Ines, Jerry, and more. (A few of these pioneers like Linda, Naomi, and Christy went on to become the torchbearers of that new generation.) This early class of models paved the way for the cultural phenomenon that became the jet setting, magazine covering, runway walking, multi-hyphenate supermodel. So let's pay homage, shall we?



Ines De La Fressange


Ines De La Fressange was the ubiquitous French model of the 1980s. She became Karl Lagerfeld's muse due to her striking resemblance to Coco Chanel, and in 1983, Ines catapulted to fame when she signed an exclusivity contract with Chanel, the first model to have such an agreement with one fashion house.



Naomi Sims


Naomi Sims is widely credited as being the first Black supermodel, after appearing on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal in November 1968. By the 1980s, she authored several books on modeling, health and beauty for Black women, including All About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman, How to Be a Top Model, and All About Success for the Black Woman.



Jerry Hall


Texan model Jerry Hall splashed onto the scene in the late-'70s after being discovered by an agent on a beach in France. She appeared on over 40 magazine covers by the time she was 21, and famously dated Mick Jagger from 1977-1999 (they were married from 1990-1999 and had four children together).



Gia Carangi


Gia Carangi is often remembered today for her troubled life and tragic death, but before that, she was considered the world's first "super" model-she was in international demand and was paid higher than any of her contemporaries. She was also the first openly LGBTQ+ model, identifying as lesbian. Her career came to a halt in the mid-'80s due to drug addiction and complications from HIV/AIDS, which eventually led to her death in 1986 at age 26. Her life was made into a movie, Gia, starring Angelia Jolie.



Brooke Shields


In 1980, Brooke Shields graduated from child star to bonafide supermodel. At just 14 years old, she became the youngest model to ever grace the cover of Vogue. Later that same year, she appeared in a controversial ad campaign for Calvin Klein jeans.



Janice Dickinson


Long before she was the Simon Cowell of America's Next Top Model, Janice Dickinson was the self-proclaimed "first supermodel" (she wasn't, but go off!). She didn't achieve the instant success that many of her contemporaries did-the late-70s, when she was starting out, were all about blonde hair and blue eyes. Instead she was met with criticism for her dark features and "exotic look" (she was told by Eileen Ford that she was "much too ethnic" and "would never work." Yikes.) She promptly left the U.S. for France and found success in the European circuit, where she went on to work with top designers such as Valentino Garavani, Azzedine Alaïa and Oscar de la Renta. The magazine covers and ad campaigns followed.



Beverly Johnson


Beverly Johnson made history as the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue (the August 1974 issue). She exploded onto the fashion scene immediately, and her career was thriving throughout the late-'70s and '80s. Oh, and she went on to appear on over 500(!!) additional magazine covers.



Linda Evangelista


Linda Evangelista-one of the most famous models of all time and supermodel queen of the 90s, JSYK-got her start in the '80s after being discovered in pageants. She was known as the "chameleon of fashion," because she could sport any look and changed her haircut and color often (before there was "the Rachel" there was "the Linda," her iconic 1988 pixie cut by hairstylist Julien d'Ys). She was a muse to photographers and designers across the industry, the likes of Gianni Versace and Karl Lagerfeld. Over the course of her decades-long career, she appeared on over 700 magazine covers. She is famously (er, infamously) quoted saying that she and her fellow heyday supermodels "don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day."



Iman


Iman was a student at the University of Nairobi when she was discovered by photographer Peter Beard in 1975. She booked her first assignment for Vogue a year later, and her modeling career took off. She is credited with broadening the definition of beauty due to her international recognition and work with innumerable designers, often as their muse. In 1994 she traded the title supermodel for CEO with the launch of IMAN Cosmetics, a line for women of color at a time when they were virtually ignored by the beauty industry.



Elle Macpherson


Elle Macpherson pursued modeling to save cash for law books at Sydney University, but changed course when she found instant success as Australia's girl next door. She is best-known for her (record!) five appearances on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. That earned her the nickname "The Body," coined by Time in 1989.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
Corrupt UK Politician Ed Davey Demands Elon Musk’s Arrest for Supporting Democracy
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Alibaba Debuts Open-Source Deep Research Agent with Benchmarks Rivaling OpenAI
Marcos Faces Legacy-Defining Crisis as Flood Projects Scandal Sparks Massive Tide of Protests
China’s Micro-Drama Boom Turns Stalled Real Estate Projects into Lavish Film Sets
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
'Company Got 5,189 H-1B Visas, Then Laid Off 16,000 Americans': US Defends New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Golf legend tells Omar she should be 'sent back to Somalia' after her Kirk comments
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
Documents Reveal Mandelson Failed to Declare Epstein-Funded Flights as MP in 2003
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Harris Memoir Sparks Backlash from Democrats for Blunt Critiques in ‘107 Days’
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Japan’s ‘Death-Tainted’ Homes Gain Appeal as Prices Soar in Tokyo
Massive Attack Withdraws from Spotify Over Daniel Ek’s €600M Defence-AI Investment
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders Third Lethal Strike on Drug-Trafficking Vessel as U.S. Expands Maritime Counter-Narcotics Operations
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
Why Google Search Is Fading and AI Is Taking Its Place
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Federal Judge Dismisses Trump’s Fifteen-Billion-Dollar Suit Against New York Times, Orders Refile
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
DeepSeek Claims R1 Model Trained for only $294,000, Sparking Global Debate Over China’s AI Capabilities
SoftBank Vision Fund to Cut Nearly Twenty Percent of Staff in Bold AI Strategy Shift
Intel’s Next-Gen Manufacturing Gets a Lifeline from Nvidia’s Strategic $5B Deal
Erika Kirk Elected CEO of Turning Point USA After Husband Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
×