the 10 greatest models

These women are not only surprisingly and variously beautiful, they have become icons of style, femininity and attractiveness of their time. Appearing on catwalks and covers, they have become a source of inspiration for thousands and thousands of women from all over the world. Consciously or unconsciously, they influenced fashion, created trends. They were admired, they tried to resemble them, they were envied, they were paid fabulous sums, they were not even ready to get out of bed for less.

We offer you to get acquainted with the ten most famous representatives of the modeling profession.

1. Iman

At one time, Yves Saint Laurent said about this beauty of Somali origin: "The woman of my dreams is Iman," and he called the show of the collection "African Queen", specially created for her, one of the most significant moments of his work in the fashion business.

Iman became the first black model who managed to achieve not only huge fees, but also significant influence in the fashion industry. Today, she is the owner of her own name brand IMAN Global Chic in the Home Shopping Network and the CEO of a cosmetics company.

2. Gisele Bündchen

By the age of 34, Gisele Bündchen has become the owner of such a long list of various professional awards and prizes that it will take several pages to simply list it. Gisele has a twin sister, Patricia, who also works as a model, but for some reason her career in the fashion business has frozen at a very modest level. Giselle, on the contrary, very quickly reached the very top of the fashionable Olympus. So, in 2004, she became the highest-paid model in the world, and in 2007, she took the 16th place in the list of the richest women employed in the entertainment industry. In 2012, Forbes magazine awarded her the first place in the list of models with the biggest earnings, and in 2014, according to the same Forbes, she took the 89th place among the most influential women in the world.

Giselle is not limited to fashion shows alone. She is the owner of the underwear brand Gisele Intimates and, of course, advertises it personally.

3. Verushka

Verushka — or Countess Vera Gottlieb Anna von Lendorf (this is the name she received at birth) - reigned on the catwalks in the 60s of the last century. She was the daughter of Count von Lendorf-Steinort, who took part in the plot against Hitler and was executed in 1944, when Vera was only three years old. The rest of the family, including young children, were sent to a concentration camp, but they managed to survive.

At first, Vera's career in the fashion business developed with great difficulty, but in the second half of the 60s she was lucky enough to get a very small role in Antonioni's film "Photo Exaggeration", which brought her great fame, and with it fabulous fees for those times — more than $ 10,000 a day. In 1975, Verushka left the fashion business after falling out with the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine.

4. Christy Brinkley

Christie Brinkley has set more than one record during her brilliant career. So, for a quarter of a century, she was the face of the cosmetic brand CoverGirl — this is the longest permanent contract that any model had. She has appeared for more than 500 covers of various magazines. Playboy, Men's Health and Allure have repeatedly called her the most attractive woman of all time. And according to the British newspaper Daily Mail, in 2012, Christie Brinkley was ranked 3rd among the richest models in the world.

5. Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford's career developed rapidly. In 1995, Forbes declared her the highest-paid model on the planet, and Men's Health magazine awarded her the third place in the hundred sexiest women of the 90s. And her appearance in a red Versace dress at the 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, where she came with her husband Richard Gere, had a huge impact on world fashion and on the career of Gere himself, as all the paparazzi devoted a lot of rave reviews to both the dress and the couple. Hundreds of copies and even fakes of this magnificent dress were sold in different countries.

6. Paulina Porizkova

Paulina Porizkova's parents had to flee Czechoslovakia in 1968 after the Prague Spring, leaving their three-year-old daughter in the care of her grandmother. Only when the girl turned 7 years old, she finally managed to reunite with her family, but this required the help of the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme himself.

A little later, Paulina Porizkova was destined to become the first model from a communist country, who starred for the cover of the American magazine Sports Illustrated, and then for Playboy.

7. Janice Dickinson

American model Janice Dickinson has self-proclaimed herself the world's first supermodel. We cannot say that these statements are unfounded. She has 37 covers of Vogue magazine, work for such publications as Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Photo, Playboy, Sports Illustrated. Janice has also been the face of advertising campaigns for Revlon, Alberto VO5, Max Factor, Clairol and Orbit.

The famous self-declaration was the result of a successful joke. One day, during a very stressful work, Janice's manager told her: "Janice, you are superman!", to which she immediately replied: "I'm not superman, I'm a supermodel!"

8. Twiggy

In the 60s, Twiggy was a real personification of the subculture of mods and played an important role in the craze for thinness. To become like their idol, millions of fashionistas in different countries tormented themselves with diets. At that time, this behavior was even called "Twiggy syndrome". The Daily Mail newspaper called her "The Face of 1966", and her photos were printed by all the famous fashion magazines of the world.

9. Gene Shrimpton

British Jean Shrimpton was one of the most famous models in the era of the "Swinging Sixties" (Swinging Sixties), as well as one of the first universally recognized supermodels. She has probably worked with all the existing respected fashion magazines, and in 2012 Time included her in the list of the 100 most influential fashion icons of all time.

10. Susie Parker

American Susie Parker became the first model in history who managed to earn $ 100,000 in a year. And she continues to be the only model after whom The Beatles named their song. Her career spanned several decades, and at its peak, Susie was the most frequently photographed woman in the world. The legendary Coco Chanel called Susie Parker her favorite and specially created dresses for her, and the famous photographer Richard Avedon considered her his muse. When Susie Parker got confused about her taxes, Jerry Ford personally paid the debt for her, just not to take his idol away from work.

Susie Parker left the modeling business only in 1964, after a car accident in which she was seriously injured.