The Top Ten Models of the Decade (Thus Far)

[vavavinny]

Yesterday I was thinking about the models of the moment, and that led me to making a list of models who, in my opinion, have been the most influential and significant faces of this decade thus far. These are by no means my favorite models. On the contrary, I find some of these girls completely uninspiring and totally overexposed (and I don't think I'm the only one). But there is no denying that each and every one of them has had her moment in the spotlight and has made a mark on the industry in some way. It was difficult, but I managed to narrow down the list to ten names (in no particular order

1. Kate Upton
2. Karlie Kloss
3. Edie Campbell
4. Cara Delevingne
5. Joan Smalls
6. Arizona Muse
7. Saskia de Brauw
8. Anna Ewers
9. Gigi Hadid
10. Kendall Jenner

Of course models like Freja Beha, Sasha Pivovarova, Lara Stone and Kate Moss have all been (and continue to be) major players, but I didn't include them in this list because their careers were already established before this decade began. I guess you could say Karlie Kloss shouldn't be included for that reason, but in my opinion her golden age has been within this decade. Of course this list will probably look very different 5 years from now when this decade comes to a close--for example, Arizona Muse's moment is over and I was hesitant to include her on the list--but I'd be interested to see everyone else's list of the ten models who, in your opinion, have defined the decade and will be the most memorable when we look back to this time period in the future.

 

[anlabe32]

I get how you've come to include models like Kate, Kendall, Cara, Joan, Gigi and all the other annoying models of today, but I wouldn't really consider them influential.

If you see how Daria Werbowy, Lara Stone, Gemma Ward, Freja Beha and Sasha Pivovarova have influenced the modeling industry, there's way more impact. Look at how many lookalikes of those models have been working. They introduced trends, had contracts with the biggest brands such as Prada, Chanel and Calvin Klein and have all covered the biggest magazines. If anything, those 5 shaped the industry in this decade so far.

 

[Marc10]

I'm sorry but what was the reasoning on Kate Upton being #1, or in this at all?

 

[Scotty]

Kendall and Gigi have only been modeling since 2014.. LOL!

 

[vavavinny]

I'm sorry but what was the reasoning on Kate Upton being #1, or in this at all?

One of the criterion I used to come up with the list is if any of the girls have been on the cover of all 4 major Vogues (US, Italia, Paris, British). Unfortunately Kate has made that accomplishment.

 

[anlabe32]

Nope, Kate hasn't been on Vogue Paris.
Only Arizona and Edie have completed all 4.

 

[Marc10]

One of the criterion I used to come up with the list is if any of the girls have been on the cover of all 4 major Vogues (US, Italia, Paris, British). Unfortunately Kate has made that accomplishment.

She covered those magazines as a celebrity, not a model. She accomplished close to nothing as a fashion model.

 

[vavavinny]

Nope, Kate hasn't been on Vogue Paris.
Only Arizona and Edie have completed all 4.

Oops, I stand corrected. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[katcty]

I don't think any of these girls are in any way the best of the decade but I would probably put Arizona over Kate at number 1. I say this from a statistical standpoint. Her impact during her moment was so big that she got 22 vogue covers in 4 years. Comparable models include Natalia (25), Daria (27), Karolina (25), and Gemma (35). The other big models like Lara, Karlie, and Natasha are somewhere around 10-15 in the same period. I actually think Arizona is quite capable of making a comeback similar to Gemma. She's doing shows again and just scored a decent campaign.

I wouldn't put Kendall and Gigi on this type of list because they've been modeling for just over a year and their impact still isn't anything near the Kate Upton effect or the Arizona impact. They are celebrities who model whereas Kate was a model that became a celebrity. I'd go as far as to maybe throw Lindsey Wixson in there because she's probably one of the more notable models who has the resume. I might even go off the deep end and say Cameron Russell because she has the high fashion and commercial resumes, editorial support from major American magazines, and her Ted Talk made her very well known.

 

[alonsoJonathan]

I don't think any of these girls are in any way the best of the decade but I would probably put Arizona over Kate at number 1. I say this from a statistical standpoint. Her impact during her moment was so big that she got 22 vogue covers in 4 years. Comparable models include Natalia (25), Daria (27), Karolina (25), and Gemma (35). The other big models like Lara, Karlie, and Natasha are somewhere around 10-15 in the same period. I actually think Arizona is quite capable of making a comeback similar to Gemma. She's doing shows again and just scored a decent campaign.

I wouldn't put Kendall and Gigi on this type of list because they've been modeling for just over a year and their impact still isn't anything near the Kate Upton effect or the Arizona impact. They are celebrities who model whereas Kate was a model that became a celebrity. I'd go as far as to maybe throw Lindsey Wixson in there because she's probably one of the more notable models who has the resume. I might even go off the deep end and say Cameron Russell because she has the high fashion and commercial resumes, editorial support from major American magazines, and her Ted Talk made her very well known.

But Cameron has been working since 2008,same as karlie and and their is a big difference between this 2 models.

I agree about Lindsey tho.

 

[vavavinny]

But Cameron has been working since 2008,same as karlie and and their is a big difference between this 2 models.

I agree about Lindsey tho.

If I'm not mistaken, Cameron has been around since at least 2005. She just happened to have a career renaissance a few years back.

 

[vavavinny]

I don't think any of these girls are in any way the best of the decade but I would probably put Arizona over Kate at number 1. I say this from a statistical standpoint. Her impact during her moment was so big that she got 22 vogue covers in 4 years. Comparable models include Natalia (25), Daria (27), Karolina (25), and Gemma (35). The other big models like Lara, Karlie, and Natasha are somewhere around 10-15 in the same period. I actually think Arizona is quite capable of making a comeback similar to Gemma. She's doing shows again and just scored a decent campaign.

It's still astounding to me how high Arizona's career soared. Maybe because she's been nearly invisible as of late. Kati Nescher had a similar type of moment. She was EVERYWHERE for a year, and then she went away.

Also, I don't think these girls in any way are the best of the decade either (except for maybe Saskia, Anna, Karlie and Cara), but I think they've all reached a level of overarching success that is difficult for most models to achieve. If we were strictly speaking about the best models and not exactly about popularity, I would've included models like Amanda Murphy, Lexi Boling, Sam Rollinson and Ashleigh Good. But I don't think any of them are really in the same league as the girls I listed.

 

[vavavinny]

Oh and definitely Vanessa Axente in terms of "best" models. I'll never forget seeing her immaculate face staring from the huge Calvin Klein billboard in SoHo in the summer of 2013. That F/W 2013 Calvin campaign by Mert & Marcus was so divine. That was her Christy moment.

 

[alonsoJonathan]

The Top Ten Models of the Decade (Thus Far)

I don't get why Veterans models cant be consider to be included on this list specially since most of them command a lot more then the models on this list (thus far)

WE have morels like Natasha and Karlie who since 2010 have had 30 vogue covers.

then we have models like Daria (17 vogue covers)Lara (21) and Kate(24)
who most of the time only do the top vogues(Paris,Uk,Italia)

how don't see how Edie with 13 covers, Cara 14, Joan 15, Anna 10 and Saskia 15 can be consider The Top models of this decade with counting the already established models.

oh and Kate, Kendall and Gigi have no business on this list (thus far)

 

[Creative]

I wouldn't put Kendall and Gigi on this type of list because they've been modeling for just over a year and their impact still isn't anything near the Kate Upton effect or the Arizona impact.

In terms of notoriety, they are the most famous models since the 90's. Cara also. Everyone knows them. They get fragances, Vogue covers, beauty campaigns... It's a fact.

Anna Ewers and Arizona Muse are maybe the only models that have had careers like the top models in the 00's (I'm mostly talking about their beginnings). Getting everything and everything being bluechip. Muse's momentum was so short, though. But she was a total hit.

I have to think my list...

 

[congacon]

The Top Ten Models of the Decade (Thus Far)

I don't get why Veterans models cant be consider to be included on this list specially since most of them command a lot more then the models on this list (thus far)

WE have morels like Natasha and Karlie who since 2010 have had 30 vogue covers.

then we have models like Daria (17 vogue covers)Lara (21) and Kate(24)
who most of the time only do the top vogues(Paris,Uk,Italia)

how don't see how Edie with 13 covers, Cara 14, Joan 15, Anna 10 and Saskia 15 can be consider The Top models of this decade with counting the already established models.

oh and Kate, Kendall and Gigi have no business on this list (thus far)

]

there are also magazines that are way more prestigious than most vogue editions like w, interview, v, bazaar etc.

 

[anlabe32]

Anna Ewers and Arizona Muse are maybe the only models that have had careers like the top models in the 00's (I'm mostly talking about their beginnings). Getting everything and everything being bluechip. Muse's momentum was so short, though. But she was a total hit.

I agree but lets not forget Edie Campbell. She has already secured the big four with 2 British Vogue's and many more Italian Vogue's (one shared with Linda, Naomi, Christy, Amber, Raquel). (Multiple) campaigns for Burberry, Hugo Boss, Fendi, Lanvin, YSL, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Jil Sander, McQueen, Calvin Klein, Bottega Veneta. Many of those as OG. Muse to Steven Meisel and Inez and Vinoodh.

I know she's the offspring of well respected people in the industry but I feel like she's accomplished this by herself. She's also not an attention seeker like other celeb models. She's not even friends with them.

 

[katcty]

I think we have to look at the peak of a model's career. Karlie, Cameron, and even Lara reached the peak of their careers after 2010. Most of the 90s supermodels were working in the 80s but if we made a list of top models of the 80s none of them would deserve to be on it because during that time there were girls who were much more famous and did more work.

I also think that we should stop acting like everyone actually knows who Gigi & Kendall are and that they are anywhere near the same level of fame. You can argue that most people know Kendall but most people don't know Gigi. I wouldn't ultimately put them on this list because their moment has nothing to do with fashion. I don't think either of them done any super high profile only girl campaigns.

 

[littlekiki]

I don't think we can tell which models have made the biggest impact so far.

It's one of those things that comes after the decade actually happens.

 

[niknak]

I don't think we can tell which models have made the biggest impact so far.

It's one of those things that comes after the decade actually happens.

I beg to differ. As someone said earlier, it's not really about who started in the decade, but who made the/a big(gest) impact. With that being said, I would name (in no particular order

Karlie Kloss
Joan Smalls
Edie Campbell
Arizona Muse (even though she has flopped, no one can forget her astonishing beginnings.)
Julia Nobis
Lindsey Wixson
Liu Wen & Fei Fei Sun (they are/were the poster children for the Asian ascension in modeling after Du Juan (2005))


And as for the "newer" kids who I think have already, absolutely made a mark for decades to come:
Lexi Boling
Anna Ewers
maybe Mica Arganaraz and Binx Walton

A lot of this "*celebrity models" have indeed impacted the modeling industry, but it would be unfair to include them, I think. (Cara, Kendall, Gigi)