There was no shortage of beautiful models during the ‘90s, but there were some women who ended up giving the decade many of the most iconic faces and styles.
Alek changed the cover
The usual supermodel had already been stretched in several directions by 1997. Alek Wek’s appearance on American ELLE in November took it another direction. She had very dark skin and closely cropped hair that really helped her features stand out.
She looked different from many major Western campaigns, and that was a good thing. Steven Meisel photographed her for Italian Vogue in 1996, and Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Isaac Mizrahi, and Anna Sui soon hired her too.
The mole stayed
It would’ve been so easy for Cindy Crawford to cover the mole above her lip. But she refused to do so, and by the early ’90s, it was an important part of her image. Those thick brows and huge brown hair didn’t hurt, either.
She had a very polished American look that was so recognizably hers. We also can’t forget her 1992 Pepsi commercial, as it put her in front of a much bigger audience than fashion magazines ever could. Put it this way, her blowout alone has had a very long life.
Naomi owned the runway
Naomi Campbell did a lot more than just photograph well. It was her walk. She became the first Black model on the cover of French Vogue in 1988, and by 1991 she was on Time magazine. This was during the height of supermodel mania.
Everyone booked her, whether it was Versace, Alaïa, Ralph Lauren, or Fendi. She continued breaking records when, in 1997, she became the first Black model to open a Prada show. Her long hair and cheekbones helped, obviously, but her walk was something else.
Her hair never stayed put
You never knew what you were going to get with Linda Evangelista. That’s kind of why she was so iconic. She swapped her long hair for a short crop just before the decade began, and her haircut became so iconic that it was known as ‘The Linda.’
But throughout the decade, she experimented with different bobs and colors, along with shapes and lengths. You just couldn’t nail down her hairstyle for too long. Even Time joked in 1991 that one of her hairstyle changes counted as news because, well, it was.
The clean face of the decade
Christy Turlington’s look definitely wasn’t wild. She had dark hair and strong brows, along with some pretty restrained makeup. That’s what made her stand out. Calvin Klein made her the face of Eternity in 1988, and she carried that clean image straight into the ’90s.
There was something so expensive-looking about it, and she could look glamorous without seeming too styled. It was an important style to have when fashion trends began stripping things back a little. It wasn’t exactly plain or anything, just less busy.
Bardot came back blonde
You’d be forgiven for thinking Brigitte Bardot was walking the runways in the 1990s. Claudia Schiffer looked very similar to the 1960s movie star. Ellen von Unwerth’s Guess photographs really brought out the similarities, with big blonde hair and heavy lashes.
There were also the pouty lips and plenty of retro glamour. Karl Lagerfeld eventually brought her to Chanel, and she became one of the house’s most familiar faces. She was very blonde, and she had that confident look you can only get from a supermodel.
Then Kate changed the proportions
There’s no way you could talk about ‘90s supermodels without mentioning Kate Moss. She showed up looking nothing like the women who’d been dominating fashion just before. She was shorter, for one. Moss was also slighter and much less polished than the other supermodels.
But it worked for her, and Calvin Klein leaned right into it, especially for the 1993 Obsession campaign in black and white. Corinne Day shot her for Vogue that same year with minimal makeup. Moss made the world realize that, actually, huge hair and Amazonian proportions weren’t the only model look around.
Beauty without the heavy polish
Tatjana Patitz was one of five supermodels who Peter Lindbergh photographed for British Vogue’s January 1990 cover. It’s not hard to see why he chose Patitz. She wore simple clothes and had fairly natural hair, but still managed to stand out.
It didn’t matter whether you knew much about fashion because it was clear that these five supermodels were unique. Even George Michael thought so. He saw that cover and later cast Patitz, along with other supermodels of the era, in the “Freedom! ’90” video.
Tyra reached the newsstand
Tyra Banks had a face that worked just as well in high fashion as it did in mainstream American media. Sports Illustrated helped with that. She first appeared in the magazine in 1993, and then shared the cover with Valeria Mazza in 1996.
She then became the first Black woman to appear alone on its cover in 1997. It was around that time that Banks began working with Victoria’s Secret, receiving an Angel contract in 1997. It was a short amount of time, sure, but she had a lot of visibility. She was just that good.
The eyeliner looked lived in
The thing with Helena Christensen’s makeup is that it didn’t always look freshly applied. She would often use a little dark Moroccan kohl inside her eyes, and then smudge it with a finger. The goal was to make it look softer, shinier, and a little worn.
It worked wonderfully, and Lindbergh photographed her that way because it fit the moodier side of ’90s fashion pretty well. It didn’t take long for Revlon to sign her as a spokesperson in 1992. Her green eyes did a lot of work, and it’s not hard to see why they liked them so much.
Glossy glamour found its face
Not all ‘90s supermodels were understated. Just look at Stephanie Seymour, for example, she was part of the shinier side of the decade, thanks to her long dark hair and dramatic features. Her glossy makeup helped, too.
Victoria’s Secret made a lot of use of that look, and Seymour soon became one of the company’s most familiar models of the decade. She hosted its first runway show at New York’s Plaza Hotel in 1995 and became an Angel in 1997. Minimalism had its place, of course, but Seymour showed there was still plenty of room for full-on glamour, too.
Everyone knew the nickname
Nicknames during the ‘90s weren’t exactly subtle, and Elle Macpherson had one of the most obvious ones. She was known as ‘The Body.’ The name stuck because her tall and athletic figure was so recognizable in the ’90s, especially because it was so different from the typical waif look of the decade.
She wasn’t trying to fit in with that. No, Macpherson’s image was healthy-looking and tanned, as well as sporty in a very glossy way. She was smart enough to turn the nickname into part of her business branding, too. It makes sense.
A teenage face sold makeup
Niki Taylor was only a teenager when she first started modeling in places usually reserved for adults. She broke records doing so. Yes, she became the first under-18 model to receive a CoverGirl contract, and it put her face in beauty ads all over America.
She also appeared in Vogue at the same time, becoming part of the magazine’s huge 100th-anniversary cover in April 1992. She was there with nine other major models. Taylor was someone who looked young because she actually was.
The blonde mold finally cracked
Yasmeen Ghauri entered an industry where the standard was ‘blonde hair and blue eyes.’ She refused to play by those rules. Ghauri was born to a Pakistani father and a German mother, after all, and raised in Montreal. Some agencies initially told her that her appearance was too ‘ethnic,’ but she didn’t give up.
Ghauri went on to work for brands like Chanel, Versace, Valentino, and Victoria’s Secret. Vogue credited her, in fact, with becoming the first South Asian woman to land a major luxury beauty contract. It’s not hard to see why because her walk was utterly amazing.
Platinum went almost white
Blonde hair is one thing, and Nadja Auermann’s shade of hair was something else. It was so pale that it often looked white under runway lights, and that gave her a much colder appearance.
It was a lot sharper than the softer blonde glamour people associated with Claudia Schiffer. Designers made use of it. Anna Sui made her look like a futuristic silver-screen star, while Auermann also appeared in Marc Jacobs’s famous Perry Ellis grunge collection.
Fashion got its own Barbie
Karen Mulder practically looked like the fashion world’s idea of Barbie. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, along with long legs and immaculate makeup. It was all very polished. So, it was no surprise that she appeared on solo American Vogue covers in July and August 1991.
She was also one of the models on the magazine’s 100th-anniversary cover in 1992. But it wasn’t just Vogue, as Chanel, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Lacroix all used her on their runways. She just had such an unreal look about her.
One billboard was everywhere
The 1990s Wonderbra ad didn’t need much to be successful. It just had Eva Herzigová, a black-and-white photo, and the words ‘Hello Boys.’ That was it. The campaign became one of the most famous fashion ads of all time, and Herzigová’s name traveled far beyond the runway.
She appeared in George Michael’s ‘Too Funky’ video with Linda Evangelista and Tyra Banks. Herzigová also worked with other fashion houses like Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, and Versace, among others.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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