What Makes a Supermodel?

[amphrosyne]

aye aye captain..

 

[Trista]

Gisele and Karolina, by my standards, will never be true supers. While both had good high fashion careers and both are VS standouts, neither one really had the personality that crosses over and makes people want to know them. Adriana is another example but she never really had that much of a high fashion career to write home about before signing with VS. More people now know her because of her mens magazine covers-but GQ ain't Vogue. A true super would be mixing the commercial at the same time as the high fashion, but it is very difficult, as the models who do mix it are not as well known. It's a choice essentially of one or the other. There are models who are tearing up the SI issue and VS like Oluchi, Ana BB, and Fernanda but you don't see them on the runways as often. There are also models like Caroline T., Iselin, and Natasha, who are runway standouts but even though you'll see them in the VS catalogues or something, they aren't in the public eye.

With that being said, I think that the model who mixes it the best is Isabeli. She has been in SI and VS, but also can do some good high fashion campaigns. Now she has a huge Revlon perfume campaign-but she's pregnant again. If she was able to permeate the American consciousness like Heidi, Tyra, etc., she would be close to, if not a Super IMO.

See the thing is though, I doubt there will be a super for a long time because after the fallout from the early 90's, designers are seeming to be more apt to use lesser-known names because the focus is on the clothes and what not. However Daria is seeming to permeate the consciousness of the fashion world however I don't think it looks like she wants to be in the echelons of Linda, Christy, etc.

 

[happycanadian]

nobody is trying to compare KK to Gisele, joseph.

Gisele and Kate are truly the only models who've transitioned into the public eye to the extent that the models of the early 90s have. and even still, WAY more people would recognize the name "Cindy Crawford" or "Claudia Schiffer" or "Naomi Campbell" than "Kate Moss" or "Gisele Bundchen".

Karolina isn't in the same league as either Kate or Gisele, and nobody (not even myself, a huge KK fan) would be foolish enough to try and argue that point.

All that was said was that in terms of having both a tremendously successful runway/edit/high fashion career AND commercial swimsuit/lingerie,etc career -- Karolina Kurkova is the closest that we've got to it at the moment. (ASIDE from Kate & Gisele).

Isabeli is omnipresent, but she doesn't have enough pizazz to really be noticed. she's involved in SI and VS and major campaigns and runway shows, but rarely is she the STANDOUT.

 

[ultramarine]

Ok ... the supermodels come from an era .. back in the 90's ... when Linda made the infamous $10,000 quote ... that epytomizes supermodel attitude ... backstage sipping on champaign being obnoxious and making ridiculous requests ... doing high fashion mags as well as Pepsi or Pizza Hut commercials (the one with Linda and Cindy, anyone) ... that era is GONE and wont come back (5 supermodels just a a star has 5 ends).

Immediately after them we had a new star ... Kate ... she's a class apart from the supers and she still is ... I prefer this girl to anyone nowadays.

Then ... the new crop ... which include the brazilians and then the russians, checz et al.

At this very moment ... I'm particularly interested on the models which bring something new ... like what happened to supernova.

 

[OMIFAN9]

nobody is trying to compare KK to Gisele, joseph.

There was kinda some hints,so he just wanted to nip it in the bud I'm sure. So he got to the point,which I think we agree on what was said about KK. Plus you have to remember there is a tad bit of a language barrier in this situation. Alright guys,I didn't plan on coming back/stepping in,but I felt I had to b/c I do take interest in you two. And since that's done, now it'll be back to the current comedy.

 

[eword]

i just went to an italian news site and read about heidi klum being pregnant again. i don't think most of italians know who she is, but she had a child also with flavio briatore and everyone here knows who briatore is. inf act he was mentioned in the article.
so what? i quoted this example to say again that if nowadays you want a massive mainstream media attention it seems to me that you more than ever have to be a part of a certain group of celebrieties and be available to make your private life public. for instance having a famous boyfriend.
i'm not saying that this situation was the same 20 years ago, it simply seems that various models don't want to get this kind of attention, that's all. they consider modeling as a business. you don't need to know them personally to say that, it's simply a fact of what they express.
so, taking daria's example, since it's the one i know better, she'll do/she's doing vuitton-chanel-cavalli-versace for the fall campaigns, but she won't become a household name until she doesn't get a household b/f or makes some scandal. i'm afraid that a vogue cover won't be enough either.

second. what i've learnt in this last year is that, unlike the supermodels' era, hot models aren't high fashion models. there's an almost complete separation. it's like VS/SI vs. high fashion. completely different bodies seem to be requested. i don't know if it's good, personally i don't like the alien trend, but it's rather evident that high fashion models are more androgynous while SI models have big boobs!
it seems to me that if an ability to cover both sides is another essential condition to get supermodel's status, not only, again, we're facing a big historical change, but it's also a *technical* problem.

what solution? it seems that some ppl just would like to have the h-f models get retired and make the hot models conquer the whole field again.
personally i'm simply happy that daria isn't a supermodel. if there're some posters who have happened to read my posts during these months, they know that the simple reason is that my views are at odds with nowadays mainstream culture.

 

[happycanadian]

second. what i've learnt in this last year is that, unlike the supermodels' era, hot models aren't high fashion models. there's an almost complete separation. it's like VS/SI vs. high fashion. completely different bodies seem to be requested.

yes.

the Supers were also the top haute couture models. they ruled it all. this separation today i don't like at all.

Sure there were still the exclusively swimsuit models during the "super-era" (ie Kathy Ireland, Rachel Hunter, Valeria Mazza, etc etc) but they weren't nearly as famous or significant as the true supers.

Today, without question, the most famous models are the ones in VS or SI and very few of them have made a serious impact in High Fashion as well. I find it ridiculous and sad that WAY more people know someone like Veronica Varekova than say Fernanda Tavares, or even Daria.

i am CERTAINLY one of those who would prefer to see the hot WOMEN with curvy bodies and charismatic personalities back on the runways and in the editorials.

i could never understand the idea that the designers don't want the models to take attention away from the clothes. its just completely ridiculous. anyone who's ever watched Naomi, Gisele, Linda, Yasmeen, Karolina, Christy, Carmen, Eva, etc walk down a runway knows that they help MAKE the clothes that much more desirable. poetry in motion.

 

[happycanadian]

also -- i think i gotta agree with omi. its time to bow out of this thread. all that can be said, i think, has already been said.

 

[eword]

^ i agree too.

but to me it's always very interesting to read through threads like that, it helps me understand better a lot of things.

 

[TheGlassAngel]

Yyp! I've been going through this thread since yesterday.

 

[Missoni~Heiress]

supermodels have a certain aura... a glow that makes them stand out from the rest

 

[sexydaydreamer]

Karolina IMO is more commercial then high fashioned. It be a little difficult for her to do high fashion because of her looks. She looks more *hot* and *gorgeous* then beautiful (what I for in a supermodel is beauty not hotness persay.) But she does have the potential to become one of the greats.

As for Giselle, IMM, she is already a supermodel, but that's just me. She had done of alot of things and has even extended her career unto acting (Taxi). She's what I would call...versatile. She reminds me of Kate for some reason.

Most models don't have what it takes to become one of the greats, but I do see many that have the potential to go far in their careers. Few just get there.

 

[Plastic'sWife]

Well, as immortalized in song by RuPaul, his list of supermodels are as follows:

linda=work mama ! naomi=she is fierce ! christy=foxy lady out of sight
cindy=i can feel it ! claudia=sell the garment ! nikki=work the runway, sweetie

^ Yes that is right.
For the current times I would add Gisele and perhaps Moss.

 

[happycanadian]

if anyone considers Niki Taylor a supermodel, i'd like to know why. she hasn't had much of a high fashion career at all, right? (*i could be totally wrong*)

 

[happycanadian]

Karolina IMO is more commercial then high fashioned. It be a little difficult for her to do high fashion because of her looks.

when Karolina first came on the scene in 2000, for about 3 years all she did was high fashion stuff. and she did it all. edits and covers for every magazine going, walked down absolutely every runway, and was in campaigns for Chanel, YSL, Louis Vuitton, Celine, etc etc etc etc.

so, perhaps you only know her from Victoria's Secret and that's why you have that opinion, but it's certainly not the case.

 

[eword]

so, perhaps you only know her from Victoria's Secret and that's why you have that opinion, but it's certainly not the case.

don't you think that says a lot?

 

[lilykarebare]

Wow. This thread is incredibly clogged with nonsense. I had no idea that supermodels could still cause so much controversy.

I think that it's pretty much impossible to define a supermodel. Supermodel is a term that the public projected onto beautiful, glamorous, fantastic women who defined an era. Differing opinions on who or what is beautiful makes it difficult to draw a box around a couple of adjectives and say, "THAT is a supermodel."

 

[happycanadian]

don't you think that says a lot?

not really. the only thing it says is that neither you nor that particular poster were fashion-aware around that time. otherwise, you'd surely know KK from before Victoria's Secret.

 

[MakeUpJunkie]

I think its silly when people use the word supermodel to refer to any model. Magazines don't like to publish "top model, Petra Nemcova," it looks more important if they say "supermodel Petra Nemcova." They use the term very loosely.

 

[sexydaydreamer]

when Karolina first came on the scene in 2000, for about 3 years all she did was high fashion stuff. and she did it all. edits and covers for every magazine going, walked down absolutely every runway, and was in campaigns for Chanel, YSL, Louis Vuitton, Celine, etc etc etc etc.

so, perhaps you only know her from Victoria's Secret and that's why you have that opinion, but it's certainly not the case.

True, but when she started doing more commercial stuff such as VS, she became more famous/well-known as a model. I could be wrong, but I didn't notice her until I saw her on the cover of a Victoria Secret's magazine. Either way, she's still a great model.