Pop Culture
The Super Models: How Linda, Cindy, Christy, Naomi and Tatjana defined an era
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Part of it is the knowledge that we’ll probably never see their like again. “Models aren’t as famous anymore,” says Doukas, “The industry has developed into something different. Brands now want to use girls that have a large social media following. Advertising agencies have pretty much gone to the wall and people just cut straight to the chase. It’s extraordinary, the power of people like Kendall [Jenner] and Gigi and Bella [Hadid], and these big social media stars. They sell products. Everybody buys what they have.”
Unlike the original supermodels, whose careers gave them a lifestyle they could only otherwise have dreamt of, today’s biggest faces are often already rich and famous. Some of them are even children of supermodels – like Cindy’s daughter Kaia and Kate Moss’s daughter Lila.
“The people wearing and marketing fashion now are so diverse, whether they’re influencers, models, actresses… whoever. It’s spread all over the place,” says Chambers. Storm launched Vision, an arm dedicated to content creators, 13 years ago. “We’ve tried to stay ahead and embrace this new digital world because everything evolves,” says Doukas. They still scout (Doukas recently spotted a girl in the choir at the King’s coronation), but the chance of a new face ever reaching the dizzy heights of Cindy, Naomi, Linda and Christy is slim.
“Unless something extraordinary happened, I don’t think that I could find someone like Kate in JFK or Christie in San Francisco, or Naomi in London, and make them as famous as that now. It would be nearly impossible.”
The Super Models premieres on Apple TV+ on 20 September.
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