HELLO and happy Monday vintage lovers!!!
I spent a good chunk of time researching this post last week thanks to inspiration from NYC Fashion Week, which concluded on Thursday and has crossed the pond to bring its magic & mayhem to the catwalks of London now through Wednesday, September 21st.
I’ve been musing on the “changes” of modeling more and more as I realize how the presentation of fashion is as much vintage as the clothes which were shown on models of a particular era.
The same can be said for the production, merchandising and marketing of clothing from the past. Today, new fashions are marketed by way of social media and the digital age, and designers are creating “capsule collections” for department stores and mainstream brands (cough cough MISSONI FOR TARGET!) to create greater reach via lower price points to the general shopping public.
While our mobile phones and the demand of getting high end fashion for cheap has created greater accessibility to the clothing which was once exclusive only to a privileged set of eyes and/or bank account of envy, the models of the past were arguably more accessible to the mainstream fashion lover than the models who walk the catwalks and grace advertisements today.
It was during a conversation with the owner of designer vintage store FROCK that I first started to discuss how models of the ’80s and ’90s “presented” fashion in a much more personable, friendly and theatrical way.
In simpler terms: We connected with those models.
Unlike the models of today who are selected to look like “clothes hangers” on the runway, models of earlier eras were encouraged to be entertaining, theatrical … even comical! on the runways when wearing the latest designs and were recruited for more video and speaking roles to champion fashion in more ways than just a pretty picture.
The three women pictured above — Cindy Crawford, Iman & Christy Turlington — were SUPERmodels because they breathed LIFE into the clothing and the visuals which captured how women like us could wear these fabulous pieces.
Cindy, Iman and Christy made fashion modeling FUN on the runways, and became household names during the ’80s & ’90s because their passions for life shined beyond just the physical materials of what they were modeling.
Keep reading after the jump for an easy-to-read bio on each supermodel, and to watch footage of them working their personalities on the runway with a healthy mind, body and soul thanks to an approachable, awesome aura.
