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- 1Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell was discovered at age 15 in 1986 by a talent scout while walking in London's Covent Garden, and she went on to become one of the original "supermodels" of the late 1980s and '90s, part of a small group of models who achieved a level of individual fame previously reserved for movie stars. Campbell became the first Black model to appear on the cover of French Vogue and Time magazine, breaking significant racial barriers within an industry that had historically underrepresented Black models on its most prestigious covers and campaigns throughout the 20th century. Her multi-decade career, spanning from the original supermodel era through continued high-profile runway and campaign work well into the 2020s, gave her an unusually long professional longevity in an industry typically associated with much shorter peak careers for its top models. Naomi Campbell's combination of her history-making cover appearances breaking racial barriers and her exceptionally long multi-decade career longevity has made her one of the most significant supermodels in fashion history.
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0 - 2Cindy Crawford
Cindy Crawford rose to prominence in the late 1980s, becoming one of the defining faces of the original supermodel era, distinguished partly by her natural, athletic look and signature mole above her lip, which she declined to have removed despite some industry pressure to do so. Crawford's 1992 Pepsi commercial, in which she simply walked past a group of awestruck children while drinking a Pepsi, became one of the most iconic and frequently referenced advertisements of the decade, demonstrating a model's crossover commercial appeal extending well beyond print fashion work. Her successful transition into business ventures, including a long-running skincare and home furnishings line, reflected a broader trend of top supermodels leveraging their personal brand recognition into lasting commercial enterprises beyond modeling work itself. Cindy Crawford's combination of her iconic, widely referenced 1992 Pepsi commercial and her successful transition into her own commercial business ventures has made her one of the most recognizable and commercially enduring supermodels in fashion history.
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0 - 3Kate Moss
Kate Moss was discovered at age 14 at JFK Airport in 1988 and rose to fame in the early 1990s with a notably different look than the more athletic supermodels who preceded her, helping popularize the more waifish "heroin chic" aesthetic that became controversial and widely discussed within fashion media. Moss's decades-long career, including a high-profile 2005 drug scandal that briefly cost her several major contracts before an unusually swift and complete career recovery, demonstrated a level of career resilience that became its own frequently cited case study in fashion industry commentary. Her extensive collaborations with high-fashion designers and photographers, along with her own successful fashion lines for retailers including Topshop, established her as one of the most consistently working and commercially significant models across more than three decades in the industry. Kate Moss's combination of her influence popularizing a distinctly different 1990s supermodel aesthetic and her remarkably resilient multi-decade career longevity has made her one of the most significant supermodels in fashion history.
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0 - 4Gisele Bündchen
Gisele Bündchen rose to international prominence in the late 1990s, becoming one of the highest-paid models in the world for an unusually extended period, and she's widely credited with helping popularize the more overtly athletic, tanned "Brazilian" body ideal that became highly influential in fashion and swimwear during the 2000s. Bündchen held the top spot on Forbes's list of highest-paid models for many consecutive years, reflecting a level of sustained individual commercial dominance within the modeling industry that few other models before or since have matched for such an extended run. Her extensive campaign work for Victoria's Secret as one of the brand's original "Angels," along with numerous major luxury fashion house campaigns, established her as one of the defining faces of high-fashion advertising throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s. Gisele Bündchen's combination of her record-setting run atop the highest-paid models list and her defining role as an original Victoria's Secret Angel has made her one of the most commercially significant supermodels of the 21st century.
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0 - 5Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks became the first Black woman to appear on the covers of both the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and the Victoria's Secret catalog during her modeling career in the 1990s, breaking significant representation barriers within two of the industry's most prominent commercial platforms. Banks's later transition into television, creating and hosting "America's Next Top Model" beginning in 2003, gave her an unusually direct and lasting influence shaping how a generation of aspiring models and the broader public understood the modeling industry's inner workings and standards. Her successful pivot from modeling into television production, hosting, and business ventures demonstrated one of the most extensive career transitions of any former supermodel, building a media and business career that ultimately extended well beyond and outlasted her original modeling fame. Tyra Banks's combination of her barrier-breaking modeling career firsts and her industry-shaping "America's Next Top Model" television franchise has made her one of the most influential supermodels in modern fashion and media history.
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0 - 6Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum was discovered through a German modeling competition in 1992 and rose to international prominence after appearing on the cover of the 1998 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, becoming one of the most recognizable faces of the Victoria's Secret Angels lineup throughout the late 1990s and 2000s. Klum's transition into television, co-creating and hosting "Project Runway" beginning in 2004 and later becoming a judge on "America's Got Talent," established her as one of the most successful former supermodels to build a lasting career as a television host and producer. Her elaborate, widely covered annual Halloween costume parties in New York City became a genuine pop culture event unto themselves, with Klum's increasingly ambitious costumes generating significant annual media coverage independent of her modeling or television work. Heidi Klum's combination of her prominent Victoria's Secret Angel modeling career and her successful long-running television hosting career has made her one of the most versatile and enduringly visible supermodels in modern entertainment.
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