Amber Valetta

Very few models land the cover of Time magazine

I met Amber during a luncheon years ago in downtown Los Angeles. She was engaging, smart and so down to earth .

Her brother dated Sheana on Vanderpump Rules one season until he dumped her because she came on way too strong and started talking about fertilizing her eggs

Very pretty! Heard she is a nice person too

I remember her from Revenge.

She walked the runway with the classic glamazon supermodels in Unzipped

She seems like a decent person

"I think she's starting to suspect something..."

I remember her primarily as Michelle Pfeiffer's doppelgänger ghost in "What Lies Beneath." It wasn't much of a part, but she shares a lot of characteristics with her—kind of a cross between Pfeiffer and Cameron Diaz. She was also decent in the questionable horror flick "Dead Silence," which is ridiculous but fun.

I had no idea she was a recovering drug addict/alcoholic

She is a coke junkie and alcoholic.

She must have been offered Project Runway because of her previous hosting experience before Heidi Klum, who had trouble enunciating the first couple seasons and re-recorded a lot of her on-camera vocals later in a studio

Amber & Christy & Naomi & Kate

I've always associated her with Shalom Harlow, because they always seemed to be in editorials together. I always liked Shalom's look a bit more.

Truly the golden age of modeling. Today is just an embarrassing poor excuse.

I thought Twiggy was the original waif.

The 90s

She was so beautiful when young imo but looks quite hard faced now, like a lot of 90s supermodels.

R16 "I don't know her"

Isn't my daughter Kendall such a natural beauty?

Linda-n-Amber

Some serious '90s shit: Amber and DL fave/controversial icon Courtney Love in 1997

She’s gorgeous. Always loved her Tatiana Patitz.

Tatjana.

Women look healthier now

She was my favorite of the post-Supermodels supermodels (along with her pals Carolyn Murphy and Shalom Harlow).

Clearly, she was a favorite of Anna Wintour as well. She holds the distinction of being on the cover of American Vogue 16 times…which is makes her tied for 5th place as the model with the most American Vogue covers (same number as Claudia Schaffer, fewer than Cindy Crawford, but more than Gisele and Linda Evangelista). She’s also only one of around 50 models who’ve been on the covers of the big 4 (Vogue US, UK, Paris, & Italia).

Her son, who’s a giant, looks like a male version of her.

Trinity 2.0

r22 Who is the side eye-ing dude?

r24 I always got Tatiana mixed up with Elaine Irwin.

r26 Caroly Murphy was basic. She was like the proto Carlie Kloss.

A.) Amber B.) Carolyn Murphy

Caroly Murphy was beautiful and striking, but didn't capture the imagination like some of the others.

Carolyn Murphy was the only Project Runway host who matched Heidi Klum's charisma and was a suitable replacement

Unlike Alyssa Milano and Georgina Chapman and Zac Posen and Karli Kloss and that annoying Zanna bitch

R30, that’s interesting. They looked similar I suppose, but I felt Tatiana had a distinct look, while Elaine Irwin was a generic pretty blonde girl. Here they are together on the cover of Vogue…

Carolyn Valletta Amber Murphy

This interview is several months old, and Amber, Carolyn, and Sharon look great for being 47-48…

Amber, Shalom Harlow and Carolyn Murphy all have noticeably symmetrical facial features. The Time magazine at R1 even references Amber's facial symmetry.

90s supermodels Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Stephanie Seymour had more snarling sexpot uneven features

It was all downhill when these types started. Amber looked very unattractive in Dead Silence.

I loved her on REVENGE; as Nolan Ross called her 'the Unbreakable Lydia Davis.'

I think there was a subtle underlying lesbionic thing between her and Victoria but I could be wrong.

She has more acting credits than most models

My friend, an art director, got Nikki Taylor to sign a Polaroid for me at a film shoot a million years ago. I still treasure it.

Yeah, Amber actually has a decent resume as an actress...but as R40 points out, she was best on "Revenge."

Shalom Harlow had a small, but memorable part in "In & Out." I'm surprised Carolyn Murphy's biggest role was a small part in a movie nobody saw (Liberty Heights). She definitely has the most personality of the supermodels from her era. Maybe she was sidelined by Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, and Gretchen Mol...the go-to blondes in the late 90's/early 00's.

One thing about Amber I find fascinating: Despite her humble roots, down-to-earth personality, and history of drug use, she's beloved by some of the biggest snobs in the business. Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, and Tom Ford LOVE her.

I saw Liberty Heights. Carolyn Murphy just had to embody the Grace Kelly-ish shiksa goddess, which she did well.

Shalom Harlow giving a tour of her apartment in the East Village in the 90s on Fashion Television was the first time I heard anyone mention bamboo floors, triggering my fixation on all things bamboo

I like Amber and follow her on IG, but Shalom is just divine.

R35 I don’t see Elaine Irwin. Are you thinking of Karen Mulder?

R47, Elaine Irwin is the one laying on the ground, in front of Karen Mulder and Niki Taylor.

Remember the name but not the model. I remember Kate Moss more.

I love Niki Taylor R42 how she came out of nowhere like a Cindy Crawford / Renee Simonsen glamazon mini-me, instant Cover Girl supermodel ready, even guest-hosting House of Style in place of Cindy

As others have said, she was fantastic on Revenge. Her looks are perfect for society types on soaps.

Lookalikes Elaine Irwin and Tatjana Patitz

With all the stylists and designers surrounding Naomi Campbell, it's surprising she's had the Crystal Gayle ass-length extensions for so long like she had on the cover at R35

She had much more flattering hairstyles early in her career

Milla Jovovich has to be one of the most successful crossover models of all time

Milla can actually sing live

The word for it was "heroin chic" and I'm glad we're past that atrocious period of fashion model gruesomeness.

Amber Valetta could go easily go from waif/heroin chic to bombshell, grunge to glam.

This photo of her, from the Guardian's 'My Best Shot' series, is gorgeous.

I remember her being on the cover of a big US magazine with a blonde shag haircut in 1993. In Australia, Sarah O'Hare (now Murdoch, Lachlan's wife) copied her and got the same haircut and quickly landed a bunch of local covers and work. It made her name in Australia.

By 1997, Sarah was given a test run as the face of Revlon (replacing Claudia and Cindy) in ads in US Vogue and Bazaar, etc. It didn't take. She wasn't signed to a long-term contract. Does anyone know if it was because of the lesbian rumors?

r27 I totally forgot that she had a son so young.

I loved so many of the models mentioned in this thread. I loved Amber’s cleft chin. Am I crazy or did she have a little bit of mystery to her?

Tatiana and Elaine were so gorgeous. Very outdated type of beauty these days as is Niki Taylor who was my favorite of the 90’s. Beautiful smile.

Niki Taylor was so underrated. Like Amber, she's also a Top 10 record holder for # of US Vogue covers, and she had an exclusive contract with Cover Girl for decades.

Anyway, my favorite cover of Amber's is an Italian Vogue one from the mid-90's....

That’s an interesting cover r62 because she is very atypically styled in the picture.

r63 Very Italian Vogue.

Why did Italian Vogue capitalize "future" on that cover? They need a good copy editor.

LMAO, R65

Fun fact: The editor-in-chief when that issue of Italian Vogue was published was Franca Sozzani, the late mother of Anna Wintour's son-in-law. Both seemed to love Amber considering how often they featured her in their respective magazines.

Interviewing Linda Evangelista

Part 2

Veiled Trinity

Joan Severance named as Linda Evangelista's inspiration to pursue modeling in the interview at R68

r70 She looks like Linda.

These cisgender "cover girls" are a dime a dozen.

R72, is it true your mom used to charge a dozen of cisgender men a dime to cover her “girls?”

Obviously I’m more interested in what they do than in their looks. I’m sure she doesn’t anymore or quit trying but I thought that Shalom Harlow was an interesting actress.

Joan Severance and Linda Evangelista look like sisters

This is my favorite photo of her.

I wonder why Linda was the only one to appear in the follow-up to Freedom - " Too Funky"

I didn't get the appeal of Kate Moss at first but now think she's one of the greatest models ever

R77 There's an old rumor that despite his gayness, George Michael and Linda Evangelista hooked up and he was quite taken with her.

Linda seems to have a way with gay/bi men. Bryan Adams was into her as well.

It's surprising that a classic model like Linda Evangelista was with Gerald Marie. You'd think he would have been with someone less worthy of the supermodel title like Rachel Hunter or Elle Macpherson

Linda is to Gerald Marie what Georgina Chapman is to Harvey Weinstein

r76 Bring back hip bones!

R80, she was a baby. From rural Canada

Amber and her mom talk a little bit about fashion sustainability.

Shalom & Amber & Kate & Mario Testino & Helena & Nadja

Supermodels 2.0: The Superwaifs.

She was legit heroin chic cause she was hugely addicted. Still more of a real model than those celebrities kids or Instagram filter fucks of today.

I like Amber, but it is often ignored how she, Kate, and Shalom were junkies. It's good they got their shit together...surprisingly, I think Shalom was the last to turn her life around.

R88 Beri Smither too.

I had no idea Shalom got seriously into drugs. I always thought she managed her career without those types of issues. I knew Beri had a problem tho.

Erasing Twiggy completely

James King (now Jamie King) is another waif model of that era that had a drug problem.

[quote]I like Amber, but it is often ignored how she, Kate, and Shalom were junkies. It's good they got their shit together...surprisingly, I think Shalom was the last to turn her life around.

And Brandi Quinones.

[quote]Kirsty Hume, Nadja Auermann, Nadège Dubospertus, Claudia Schiffer, Shalom Harlow, Christy Turlington, Carla Bruni, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell & Brandi Quiñones in Vogue Italia (1994)

[quote]After the Versace HC show at the Ritz in Paris (1994 ) Nadja Auermann, Carla Bruni, Brandi Quinones ,Bridget Hall, Amber Valletta , Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell & Shalom Harlow

That Toni Tennille haircut is a choice

When I saw Milla Jovovich sing live at Mercury Lounge on the Lower East Side in the 90s, a braless white tank wearing Brandi Quinones was there, and afterwards was very touchy/huggy/dykey? with Milla backstage

I never understood how Jamie King became a big model. Never got her appeal.

Jamie King was a real life heroin addict, therefore, she helped bring authenticism to the era of heroin chic.

Official Supermodel Birth Certificate: Vogue cover spotted by George Michael who cast them all in his "Freedom" video, igniting the era of the supermodel

Linda Evangelista notarizing the birth certificate and co-signed by Cindy, Christy and Naomi

Even though the British Vogue cover marked the beginning of the Supermodel era, I personally believe the American Vogue 100 year anniversary cover was treated as the definitive list (adding Claudia, Karen, Yasmeen, Niki, and Elaine).

This leather biker chick fantasy supermodel gang includes straight dude dreamgirls Helena Christensen and Stephanie Seymour

I always thought Carla Bruni wasn't worthy of the supermodel title either

Linda & T-PATZ are my favorites from the "Freedom" video

I didn't like Christy Turlington's gamine Audrey Hepburn look back then and mistakenly thought she wasn't very interesting looking, but now think she's one of the best models ever

Yes. Agree about Turlington. I’ve seen here in real life several times and in all honesty you’d never look twice and think she is remarkably attractive. She has an obvious bobbed nose job that is distracting as well as big mouth. But boy do those features work in front of the camera. She was so chameleon-like. Stunning model! I also loved Linda for this same reason. As far as the prettiest….. I think Amber and Beri were, but not the most interesting in front of the camera, yet beautiful in real life. Funny how modelling is like that.

Before Gigi Hadid, there was Carla Bruni…an undeserving “supermodel” whose title was bought and paid for by mommy and daddy. Carla had the height and cheekbones, but zero personality. I think it’s interesting how the fashion industry is built upon the illusion of pure luxury, but the best models have always been girls from modest backgrounds. Of THE Supermodels, Christy probably had the most privileged background and her dad was only an airline pilot. The rest were plucked from relative obscurity.

[quote] This leather biker chick fantasy supermodel gang includes straight dude dreamgirls Helena Christensen and Stephanie Seymour

I swear I have never seen Stephanie mentioned on DL as anyone’s favorite. I wonder why that is.

Stephanie Seymour was pretty, but she seemed redundant…like a reserve Cindy Crawford.

Stephanie Seymour sexes it all up. She and Helena Christensen had the best tits and bodies of the supermodels. Both of them did runway and Victoria's Secret catalogs. She changes the whole vibe.

Without Stephanie: Angular models posing obediently for the camera

With Stephanie: Five-way naked supermodel gang bang!

Cindy getting to second with Stephanie

Never forget the Axl Rose era.

Linda and Gerald Marie interview by Jeanne Beker in 1991

r114 So bizarre to watch in light of Gerald's predation becoming known.

R56, amen!!

did anyone ever sense a lesbionic vibe between Amber's Lydia and Victoria Grayson on REvenge?

Yes, R117. I thought it was rather obvious.

yeah, when Amanda eyed Victoria at the NY's Eve party Lydia snarked to her, 'what are you coveting, honey...the Dolce...or what's in it?'

This cover would never be released today

r120 Absolutely not. Does that have a date?

Linda Evangelista said that Naomi had the best body in modeling and Carla Bruno was second.

[quote] This cover would never be released today

It’s kind of ironic because a lot of young women today loooove to joke about being choked and other crap during sex.

R120 Who's the guy?

Seymour seems rather popular with fellow models. Both Angie Everhart and Cindy Crawford said she was "the most beautiful" of all the models.

R124 Marlon Teixeira, a Brazilian model. The cover was shot by Terry Richardson, of course, and I think it actually was a bit controversial around the time it was published.

Linda getting some military dick

Linda with one of DL’s favorite gay Instahos, RJ King.

She was after the supermodel era, but one of my favorites was Kirsty Hume.

Only a group of eight models would Stephanie Seymour at 5'10 would be the shortest of them all R104

I liked Kirsty Hume, too

My three all-time favorites together - Helena, Christy, Stephanie

Kirsty had a strong look. Didn’t she retire pretty early?

Moving out of the Amber era, I really liked Gemma Ward when she was popular.

R132 - Gemma Ward was a Karl Lagerfeld muse. Karl Lagerfeld launched and made her career.

That trademark Linda smile. No one else had it.

r127 Who is the Daddy?

r128 She was definitely of the era, but more the 2nd wave, with the Ambers and Shaloms..

r130 Me three! Kirsty was like the elf princess of the pack.

No Kristen McMenamy fans around?

Versace Spring/Summer 1995, featuring: Carla Bruni, Helena, Naomi, Karen Mulder, Claudia, Kristy Hume, Shalom, Amber, the list goes ON...

So people used to applaud during runway shows? Are they applauding outfits or models? Look at all of them looking sooo young!

(also, a lot of "WOO!" ing from the audience in places...also feels weird compared to today)

Carla Bruni is the model equivalent of a yawn

Claudia Schiffer messes up the show within the first ten seconds R139 like she's playing dress-up on 'Take Your Daughter To Work' day

R140 Shocking, isn't it? Fashion shows used to have a lot more energy to them, I can't figure out when they became dour affairs.

Here's Yves Saint Laurent HC Spring/Summer 1990, featuring more clapping during the show! The models were, naturally, more subdued than Versace's, but they still had personality.

Male and Female Linda make out

R142, Claudia Schiffer was known for having the absolute worst walk. Guy Trebay from The New York Times said she walked like a dental technician on her way to work.

Donovan Leitch certainly had a type. He started dating Kirsty Hume after breaking up with Gwyneth Paltrow (who has similar features, even if she isn’t as pretty).

Carla Bruni is the OG Bella Hadid.

Yeah. An insanely rich, tall thin girl whose nose job validated her ticket to modeling.

She had more than a nose job.

Compared to Bella, Carla appears utterly Legit.

[quote]started dating Kirsty Hume after breaking up with Gwyneth Paltrow

talk about upgrade!

I agree with Cindy Crawford who said that Christie Brinkley was the first supermodel

R152 You'll be hearing from my lawyers.

I'm pretty sure Cindy was shading Janice when she said it R153

Someone decided to read Janice for fifth regarding the supermodel thing on her own damn Wiki page. LOL

While Dickinson claims to have coined the term supermodel in 1979, and to be the first "supermodel", the word already was known in the 1940s. The writer Judith Cass used the term in 1942 in her Chicago Tribune article "Super Models are Signed for Fashion Show". In 1943, author Clyde Matthew Dessner used the term in his book So You Want to Be a Model!

The New York Times, on March 21, 1967, and The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland on May 19, 1967, both referred to Twiggy as a supermodel. In 1968, an article in Glamour described Twiggy, Cheryl Tiegs, Wilhelmina, Veruschka, Jean Shrimpton, and 15 other models as "supermodels". Syndicated columnist Suzy Knickerbocker in 1970 described Penelope Tree as a supermodel.

The April 23, 1971, issue of The Hour headlined one of its articles "Supermodels Reveal Their Beauty Secrets", including an advertisement with the caption "Supermodel Cheryl Tiegs". The article also says, "The fashion/beauty world is dotted with Supermodels" and "Cybill Shepherd a Supermodel who may turn into a Superstar." Jean Shrimpton was described as a supermodel by Time in 1971, as were Margaux Hemingway by Vogue on September 1, 1975, Beverly Johnson by Jet in 1977, and Naomi Sims in the 1978 book Total Beauty Catalog by K.T. Maclay.

Lisa Fonssagrives and Dorian Leigh, whose careers began before Dickinson was born, have been retroactively recognized as the 20th century's first supermodels, as well as Jean Shrimpton.

^^^^ For “filth” not fifth…

Supermodels were a 90s thing. Models weren't household names in the 80s

Christie Brinkley was as familiar as The Fonz and would be on front cover modeling and back cover advertising Cover Girl. She was in National Lampoon's Vacation, regular guest on talk shows, the cover of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue three times bringing in all the straight dudes, and married Billy Joel and appeared in most of his videos on MTV

Cheryl Tiegs was everywhere in the mid/late 70’s. Guys in my high school had her photos in their lockers. She was on the cover of Time, and it didn’t get bigger than that back them.

She was at least as big as Christie Brinkley.

The 90's was the zenith / peak / "golden age" of modeling & when the term supermodel (which alredy existed) became widely used, but top models who were household names existed before. Like Brinkley, Tiegs, and others.

I had no idea the heroin chic girls besides Jamie King and Kate Moss were actually on drugs.

There's a supermodels documentary coming to Netflix soon, hopefully, directed by Barbara Koppel.

Didn't Karl Lagerfeld and Claudia Schiffer have a feud or something? Or maybe he just dropped her when her look became unfashionable during the heroin chic period? I can't remember. I remember that Karl dropped Inès De La Fressange when she agreed to be the model for the Marianne statue. I wish that there was an all purpose 80s/90s fashion gossip thread?

Karl and Claudia remained friends until the end. Even if he didn’t use her as much in the late 90’s, he continued to work with her in the 2000’s and 2010’s.

My favorite Karl quote—in who ch he invoked Claudia to trash Heidi Klum:

“I don’t know Heidi Klum. She was never known in France. Claudia Schiffer also doesn’t know who she is.”

Bridget Hall was the last model to get the full-blown supermodel promotional campaigns in the mid-90s but didn't really take

Bridget Hall was really stunning. Didn't she turn out to be a big druggie, too?

Didn't Hall get an unfortunate nose job that made her look generic?

Unfortunately, Bridget Hall was a druggie who ruined her career with her addictions and bad plastic surgery.

She was part of the Kate, Amber, Shalom and Carolyn era of supermodels, and I think based on her age she could’ve assumed the Niki Taylor role (being significantly younger than the rest). It’s a shame she crashed and burned, but she still appeared on one of the best September Vogue covers ever sold—see link.

This cover reminds me of a model who is rarely mentioned even though she was Gisele’s biggest competition in the early 00’s class of supermodels (along with Maggie Rizer, Karolina Kurkova, and Carmen Kass): Angela Lindvall.

Here she is pictured with Bridget Hall and Carolyn Murphy. Despite having zero personality, I always thought she was gorgeous.

I follow Lindvall on Instagram. She aged very well.

I always thought that Bridget Hall was gorgeous and was surprised that her career never really took off.

She got two big pushes, which is unheard of in modeling. When she was only 14 or 15, she scored contracts with Maybelline and Ralph Lauren. Despite this, she didn't take. After those contracts ended a few years later, she was pushed again, but for high fashion, rather than commercial stuff. The public still wasn't interested.

Despite DL's insistence that he's gay, during Hall's first round of semi-fame that Leonardo DiCaprio was banging her, even though she was underage.

I like how Linda credits old-school models Kelly Emberg and Kim Alexis as inspirations in the interview at R68

Leo has hopelessly tried to replace 90s piece Kristen Zang with a lookalike fuckdoll for decades

Gisele is one of those models like Elle Macpherson and Rachel Hunter who look good in bathing suits and are standardly pretty of course, but don't have the versatile captivating faces that lead to time spent lingering on them, like Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Helena Christensen and Kate Moss

R170 Didn't Kim Alexis become a fundie, or am I thinking of another model?

One of my favorite models of the "recent" era was Daria Werbowy, but she quit modeling in 2016.

R173 She did.

I think that Kathy Ireland is a fundie too.

Christy, Claudia and Linda avoided the late in career playboy spreads, though Crawfords first one was in 1988 and she credits it for launching her career outside of modeling. Crawford, Campbell, Seymour. Moss, macpherson, hunter and Carol alt did playboy.

R175 I forgot that Kate did Playboy a few years ago. I was surprised she did it, even though she has tons of nude fashion editorials.

There are only 9 legendary models of all time. The word "super" is not necessary. Only Evangelista is on both lists. Only one list is important.

Amber Valetta is number 4,381. Or lower.

Joan Smalls and Cocha Rocha are the only great models from the last decade. Doesn't matter what the OP thinks. He loves Gia Garagemi and Christie Brinkley. AKA - he's 75 years old with bad taste.

R177 your misery is palpable

Give us the list then, R177. Let us discuss.

R177 Actually, I'm on both lists, too.

R167 I haven't thought about her in years, but I remember that Maggie Rizer had an interesting life story. I think her father died of AIDS and lost her modeling fortune because her financial manager embezzled it. I didn't like her look.

More than 1/3 of the posts on this thread are from R178! Most of the rest are from his other accounts. He loves agreeing with himself - gramps responds to his own posts within seconds. Sad to be so interested in fashion models from 50 years ago. I guess he is reliving his 30s. Datalounge provides humanitarian service for souls like these.

R182 uh, sweets....you couldn't ignore me if you tried

"Or maybe he just dropped her when her look became unfashionable during the heroin chic period? "

That's exactly what happened with Claudia, her look was not in anymore. Karl's new muse was Stella Tennant and we got looks like this.

I was never a Stella Tennant fan. Carolyn Murphy was another model I never liked.

Angela Lindvall I really liked. I loved her eyes and her cleft chin. She used to have a weird walk on the runway tho. She’d arch her back and stick her stomach out when she walked. She was asked about it by a fashion reporter and was very snippy in response.

[quote]I forgot that Kate did Playboy a few years ago. I was surprised she did it, even though she has tons of nude fashion editorials.

I used to regularly visit a fashion website in the early 00’s, and it had a gossip forum popular with people in the industry (hintmag.com). I distinctly remember a rumor that canceled pervert photographer Terry Richardson had raunchy nude photos of some of the most famous models at the time. One of the most shocking was a closeup of Kate Moss’s butthole.

Ah yes. The Terry Richardson years. Don’t miss that.

The model with the most charmed life in recent memory is Willow Bay. Seventeen cover girl in high school, got the Ester Lauderdale contract as a student at Penn, became a newscaster, got an MBA at NYU, has been married to the most powerful man in Hollywood, Disney CEO Bob Igor for 25 years, and is now the Dean of the Annenberg School of Communications at USC.

She’s at all the big award shows and is still gorgeous at almost 60.

[quote] R170] Didn't Kim Alexis become a fundie, or am I thinking of another model?

No it’s Kim. If you go to her Instagram you’ll see too that she let herself age completely naturally.

r169 I would be more inclined to believe that DiCaprio is closet-bi, not gay. 100% had sex with men when he was coming up in H'wood, and likely molested as a child.

R173 - Every picture Cara Delevingne reminds me of a punk Kim Alexis.

Read somewhere than Sarah Palin is dating Kim Alexis' ex-husband, a Ron somebody.

When did Natalia Vodianova come on the scene??? I remember Natalia being very big in editorial work.

r191 I had no idea Sarah Palin was single! Did I miss my chance?!?

R192 - Todd, her husband, left her in 2019 and the divorce became final in 2020.

This Fashion Television segment about the rising cost of booking models for runway shows indicated the end of the supermodel era

I used to watch Fashion Television and Fashion File religiously.

^ I loved those and House of Style, too

I loved Jeanne Becker…she was so much cooler than Elsa Klensch and more natural in front of the camera than Cindy Crawford. I still think of Fashion Television whenever I hear the song “Obsession.”

Niki Taylor hosting "House of Style" filling in for Cindy Crawford

Just watched House of Gucci and out of curiosity I looked up Tom Ford's first season with them. Amber Valletta is the first model on the runway.

Jeanne Beker ain't dead. After her truly close Chris friend jumped off the balcony - she has become a well paid and ubiquitous feature on the Canadian Home Shopping Channel. She gives advice and shills for some brands.

Jeanne had access to everyone back in the day. CITY TV in Toronto was e v e r y w h e r e. She's remarkably down to earth and funny. The kind of fashion chick journalist that got invited places. Fashion is a ridiculous sell when it comes down to it. Jeannie didn't slobber as much as others - she just acknowledged people's positions in the pecking order and the occasional genius. She was cool.

No one has EVER been excited about Amber Valetta. EVER. What a laugh.

R200 CORRECTION: No one has EVER been excited about YOU. EVER.

r199 Shalom 2nd!

R200 Why are you so hostile?

R200 - Shalom & Amber are both great models. You may argue who is greater but there can be no argument that both are great models.

Think of all the fabulous parties Jeanne Beker attended.

My VCR was set to record Fashion Television and The Week in Rock with Kurt Loder every week

Carolyn Murphy's season hosting Project Runway All Stars is now on Hulu

I think Shalom was THE model of the 90s, because her look spanned not just heroin chic but also the more classic/haute couture runway and print/supermodel pathways. Linda E and the original supes were completely out of place in grunge. I thought Shalom's big curls and skunk stripe were SO cool.

Amber should never have been a grunge/CK One model. Her natural look seems more suited to the all-American/athletic girls like Frankie and Missy Rayder and Angela Lindvall who came around in the early 00's. The "nice girl" look. A little bland, but so what?

Another heavily-hyped but fizzled supermodel of the millennial period was Laetitia Casta. She was EVERYWHERE for a while, and I'm surprised about the lack of traction because she was the girlfriend of the much-older Stephane Sednaoui (and eventually became knocked up with his kid).

She had a very young Brigitte Bardot look that really worked well in print. When I see 90s/00s models like Niki Taylor and Camilla Vest making a killing in catalog work, I think that's the sort of thing La Casta might do well with, but she's nowhere to be found.

She may think catalog works is boring. Good money tho.

R209 Laetitia Casta is on the cover of this month's Vogue Paris.

I also remember that Casta wore the bridal look for a ton of YSL's shows, but that's it.

Laetitia Casta (still) looks great. She should work more often.

Kristen McMenamy did an "Inside the Wardrobe" video for British Vogue three months ago, and it was the first time I ever heard her speak. I don't know what I was expecting, but she has a very loud, late 70s/early 80s LES/New Yawk accent that took me aback.

Also - did not realize that Kristen M. was born in '64, so was shrewdly extending her peak modeling/earning years in the 90s when she was over 30. Get that, girl.

She’s really charming in that video r213.

I never saw Kristen’s appeal back in the day, but her personality makes her very appealing (for lack of a better word.)

You know, if Kurt Cobain had not killed himself in '94, had split with Courtney, and somehow kept it together to enjoy some kind of Iggy Pop/Stones-level longevity, I think he would have paired off with Kristen McMenamy. They would have made a very fitting couple.

Yeah I could see that. Because yes Courtney would have had to go in order for any chance of him pulling it together. Not blaming her for his death or snything, but they were a toxic couple.

I think this is the first time I've ever heard anyone mention Angela Lindvall. I was wondering how many models turned down Project Runway All Stars before asking her to host. She's tall and thin but with a standard catalog looking face.

I'm sure you all know this already, but 90s model Trish Goff (who was neither here nor there in the taxonomy of grunge models - I guess she was a cleaner-cut waif) sells real estate in NYC.

Looks like everyone forgot Stella Tennant

r209 Casta continues to be big in France.

Casta was too sexy and voluptuous to be a supermodel. Her Sports Illustrated swimsuit spreads were epic, though. And I remember finding Trish Goff very elfin and doll-like. Her facial features are all perfect and tiny and cute.

Angela Lindvall had a sister, Audrey, who was also a model. I remember she was killed after being hit by a car while riding her bicycle.

I don't know what else to say about Stella Tennant. She had an iconic, extremely rarefied/aristocratic look, so highborn that the haute couture life did not seem the least bit aspirational for her. Her decision to retire to the Scottish countryside seemed (at the time) one that showed total aristocratic authenticity: it was the "elegance is refusal" dictum in action. She was so cool.

But her death is so disturbing and gross. I assume, rightly or wrongly, that she had some kind of depression. She did have 4 teenaged/young adult children and apparently couldn't see a way to sticking around for them, which I think is shitty and beyond self-centered, no matter how depressed a person is or what their age/station in life. Stella's problems are over, but theirs have just begun and will last as long as they live. That's fucking lousy parenting. If you decide to spawn, your life is no longer really about you. Who would have thought that the most utterly selfish move of her life would occur decades after she had left the pitifully self-indulgent world of high fashion?

And being unable to cope with turning 50. Jesus Christ. For someone who made a lasting mark on fashion defying beauty standards with her extremely individual androgynous/aristo-punk sensibilities, it's shocking, to say the least, that something as ho-hum as "50" would take her out. Tbh, it's pathetic and unbecoming.

Just look upthread at Kristin McMenamy, looking unbelievably good (and still very punk) at 57. Stella could have lived that way, too. What a waste.

How did she do it? I've never really thought about suicide, but right after I gave birth I remember thinking, "well there goes that option"

No idea. Her family issued a statement after she died confirming that she had taken her own life. I don't think they specified the means. McQueen's muse Isabella Blow died by ingesting weedkiller. Kate Spade and L'Wren Scott died by hanging. I'm not sure what happened with Stella.

Will fashion ever ben fun again? Enjoy!

Karen Elson doing runway in 2022

Agreed, R224. Every word. I generally don't moralize about suicide or suicidal feelings - except when they are dependents involved. She's probably destroyed her own children's lives with what she did and there can be no excuse for that. It is the ultimate selfish act.

Can it really have been anxiety over aging, ffs? I always assumed that was just what her family was saying to hide some darker truth, but i admit I had no reason to believe that beyond it seeming unbelievable.

Tennant and her husband split not long before she died. I heard that he walked out on her, but idk if that's true.

I had a moment when I was really into Trish Goff in the mid 90's.

Kate & Amber & Shalom & Carolyn dropping into the 90s beginning their second generation supermodel reign

r232 This is such a welcome palate cleanser after the trashy plastic "models" of today.

There was no second generation supermodel reign r232. The originals were one of a kind.

Nadja passing the supermodel torch to Amber & Kate as the golden cream in a sequined lavender supermodel sandwich cookie

Amber, Kate Moss and Bridget Hall

Amber Valletta Breaks Down 15 Looks From 1993 to Now

Amber wore the J-Lo Versace dress first

Amber wore it TWICE before J-Lo

R9 beat me to it. She was very haunting in What Lies Beneath. It wasn't a substantial part but she was memorable in it.