The term Supermodel took its roots in the popular culture of the 80’s and the 90’s.
Lisa Fonssagrives was supposed to be the first supermodel and appeared in some of the major fashion and general interest magazines from1930’s to 1950’s including Town and Country, original Vanity Fair, Vogue and Time.
In 1968, Glamour magazine described Twiggy, Cheryl Tiegs, Veruschka, Jean Shrimpton and fifteen other top models as supermodels. In the 1970’s some models became more illustrious as their names became more familiar to the general people. Among these models were Janice Dickinson, Cheryl Tiegs, Iman Abdul Majid and Christie Brinkley. The prominence of Supermodels increased in 1980’s with models such as Claudia Schiffer, Paulina Porizcova, Elle McPherson and Cindy Crawford. The 1990’s were known as the “era of super models” and during this period supermodels were prominent in the media. Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell were among the high profile models back then.
In the 1990’s Kate Moss a slender and sleek teenager with perfect hips and small breasts
Hit the scenes. Moss promoted a look which came to be known as “waif” or “heroin chic” which created waves during the 1990’s.
Elle McPherson is one of the top Australian super model who has started her own line of lingerie called “Elle McPherson Intimates”
Another Australian super model to blow the covers was Gemma Ward. At just sixteen Ward was the youngest model to be in Vogue shoot of nine other super models in the modeling world including fellow supermodels Daria Werbowy, Gisele Bundchen and Karolina Kurkova. Ward’s baby-doll like appearance created created waves in the fashion world and she has been featured by designers Gucci, Valentino, Prada, Yves–Saint Laurent and many more. She’s the first Australian super model since Kate moss to be the face of Calvin Klein’s perfume “Obsession night for men”along with Philadelphia male model Drew Keilt.
Another sexy Australian model is Nicole Trunfio who has campaigned for famous Australian and international brands such as Valentino, Victoria’s Secret, Sweet Face and Neiman Marcus.
“Australia’s Next Top Model” is and Australian reality television show that showcases the budding sexy Australian models to walk the ramp.
Australian super model Elle McPherson has such a killer body that the fashionists have nicknamed her “the Body” for an amazing figure that stands six feet tall. This Australian supermodel also campaigns for breast cancer awareness and launched an inaugural campaign “Fashion Targets Breast Cancer” in Dublin in the year 2005.
Since the mid-nineties the popularity of supermodels had faded. These supermodels may be referred to as sex symbols and are able to parlay their celebrity into product endorsement deals and acting careers at times.