I think any of the decades of the last century would have embraced her much more. It's a real shame how under used she is.
Not so sure about the late 90s - they really decided to make normal people the ideal then...with Gisele as the token traditional model. All the girls who really made it big after Kate are strange...
.Amber Valetta - pretty, cool but with the vibe of Kevin Costner's aunt.
Malgosia - wonderful model but so spooky she can't possibly have general appeal.
Carolyn Murphy - pretty but who remembers her face?
Natalia V - good model when she wants to, but only then, and she is slightly cross eyed.
Daria - sure, but she's too unorthodox to be a bona fide beauty.
Gemma - same thing.
Karolina K - the nose/mouth thing is quite hopeless.
The VS chicks were all bronzed dry and so lacking in the photogenic department only hormone-stacked 18 yo boys could care about them, with the exception of
Adiana Lima who had life and charm - but then she had chipmunk cheeks which made it impossible for her to be a big high fashion model. Every single one who has been pushed to superstardom after 1995 has had some strange flaw - except
Gisele. I mean, a lot of this industry is promotion - who does the agencies choose to promote - of course it depends on what designers and editors want....and they have clearly wanted models who lacked a general appeal, even if it meant treating the true, rare, indisputable beauty icons - Snejana is the stand out from the 00s - like they're just any other model....exchangable, unless they're pleasant to be around...or sucked up to the right agent...or something.
In many ways modeling seems to mimic the movie industry...
At the end of the day it does seem amusing how something as straightforward as beauty can be misunderstood as much as it has in the last few decades. It's almost as if it's something to be avoided at all costs...something deplorable in itself. Perhaps it reminds us of just how unfair life is....