Back before Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, and Cara Delevingne, there was a time when supermodels weren't even a thing. The term supermodel only became popular in the 1980s when models became celebrities and began commanding higher pay for their work. Back in the 80s and 90s, there were pioneering models that paved the way for future models in the cutthroat industry of fashion. They made high fashion runways a thing and modeling a viable long-term career. But what are the likes of Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington up to these days? What the original supermodels look like today will surprise you!
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00:00These days, when someone says the word supermodel, you probably think of young beauties like
00:05Gigi Hadid or the latest Instagram stars.
00:08But before this new crop of models, there were the original supermodels — legends
00:13in the industry who walked the high fashion runways and graced magazine cover after magazine
00:18cover.
00:19Not many models become household names, and even fewer have careers that span decades,
00:24but these women defied the odds.
00:27Here's what they look like today.
00:30Cindy Crawford
00:31Models come and go, but if there's one supermodel who has made a name for herself across generations,
00:37it's Crawford.
00:38Beginning with her breakout Vogue cover in 1986, Crawford has done it all in her decades-long
00:44career, and it doesn't look like she's slowing down anytime soon.
00:48These days, she owns a skincare line and serves as a mentor for her two children, who've taken
00:53on the world of modeling themselves.
00:56Claudia Schiffer
00:58Discovered at age 17 and chosen by Karl Lagerfeld himself to be a Chanel model, Schiffer has
01:04worked with some of the greatest names in the fashion world.
01:07But in 1996, Schiffer was shocked to learn Lagerfeld no longer wanted her as the face
01:12of Chanel.
01:13But that didn't slow her down.
01:15She continued modeling and even dabbled in some acting, appearing in films like Zoolander
01:20and Love Actually.
01:21In 2002, she married director Matthew Vaughn, with whom she has three kids.
01:27Christy Turlington
01:29First discovered in her teen years, Turlington went on to work with huge names like Vogue,
01:34Calvin Klein, and Maybelline.
01:36Despite her success, she left full-time modeling in 1994 to pursue her education.
01:42In 2003, she married actor Edward Burns, with whom she has two kids.
01:47She also started Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit that provides maternal health care to women
01:52across the world.
01:53She's also gotten back into modeling, starring in a Calvin Klein fragrance campaign with
01:58her husband, and gracing the cover of Vogue Paris in April 2017.
02:04Naomi Campbell
02:06She first made a name for herself on the runways, in music videos, and as the first black cover
02:11model for Vogue.
02:12And her career has never really slowed down.
02:15She's since served as the executive producer for the reality show The Face and even interviewed
02:21Vladimir Putin.
02:23Elle Macpherson
02:24Sure, most supermodels have bodies the rest of us would kill for.
02:29But Macpherson's was so fabulous that in 1989, Time literally nicknamed her The Body thanks
02:35in large part to her record, five Sports Illustrated covers.
02:40Macpherson's proven that her brain is just as lucrative as her famed body, leveraging
02:44her nickname into a successful brand.
02:46Today, she owns two Australia-based businesses, a lingerie collection, and a wellness line.
02:54Helena Christensen
02:55Christensen's breakout moment is undoubtedly her sultry appearance in Chris Isaac's 1989
03:01Wicked Game music video.
03:03From there, she went on to model for CoverGirl and Victoria's Secret.
03:07Though she walked the runway alongside the best, Christensen retired at 31.
03:13She's since had a son with The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus and co-founded Nylon magazine.
03:19But she hasn't given up on the fashion world completely.
03:22She's found happiness working as a photographer.
03:25Linda Evangelista
03:27Evangelista revealed to Interview that her agents told her when she first started modeling
03:32in the 80s to expect her career to last about three years.
03:36Instead, she became one of the most well-known, sought-after models in history, famously claiming
03:42she wouldn't
03:43"...get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day."
03:46Her work included print and runway, and she appeared in two George Michael music videos.
03:51Today, she's a working mother, serving as the vice president, creative director, and
03:55spokesperson for a wrinkle cream called Erasa.
03:59Eva Herzegová
04:01In 1994, Wonderbra featured Herzegová in a series of ads that have since been called
04:07some of the most iconic of all time.
04:09The Czechoslovakian blonde bombshell went on to model for huge names like Victoria's
04:14Secret and Sports Illustrated, and walked the runways for Prada and Louis Vuitton.
04:19More recently, she nabbed a Dior campaign, and has even dabbled in philanthropy, partnering
04:24with DKMS in 2010 to
04:27"...create a worldwide DNA database to help find matches for bone marrow transplants."
04:33Stephanie Seymour
04:35An original Victoria's Secret model, Vogue cover girl, and former girlfriend of Guns
04:40& Roses frontman Axl Rose, Seymour is no stranger to the spotlight.
04:45She made waves again in 2016, when she was arrested for driving under the influence.
04:50Later that year, she went after today's popular models like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner,
04:55saying they weren't worthy of the title supermodel.
04:59Talk about delivering some super shade.
05:01Yikes.