The Supermodels that keep on giving
Why are the original supers making such a comeback when we have so many beauties available just a hop, skip and a click away?
I’ve just finished watching The Super Models on Apple TV. A four part documentary about Linda, Cindy, Christy and Naomi. And no we don’t need full names. Because we all know who these gals are. Even if you were born in the year 2000 (because - vomit - some actual adults were born this side of Y2K). If you have even a microscopic iota of interest in fashion you know these names. Like Prince and Madonna, these solo monikers exude a certain breathless power. If however, you live under a dark cloud and could not care a single jot about the physical guardians of the runway universe, well then I bid you a merry, if slightly less glamorous, adieu.
But I warn you - you will find it hard to to avoid the increasingly glaring presence of the original 4 supers. Because they are strutting, laughing and smizing all over our airwaves. From British Vogue’s September cover to the closing of Vogue World, the Apple TV documentary, Naomi’s collection with Pretty Little Thing (terrifying and I refuse to link it), Vanity Fair’s colosal 3 part cover (featuring 21 iconic models ranging from Lauren Hutton to Carla Bruni- see below). They are EVERYWHERE.
It made me wonder why? Why now? Between the increasing (albeit slowly) diversity on the runways to the goddesses ruling over the Gram - Gigi, Kendall, Bella, Hailey and co, we are not short of beautiful women to inspire us in ad campaigns and runway shows. No disrespect to the fab four, who all continue to look breathtaking no matter their age. To be fair 3 of them - Naomi, Christi and Cindy - haven’t stopped working. Naomi especially puts the twerk into work (sorry that’s the only way to describe it really). Contributing editor of British Vogue, she has been strutting down multiple runways from Dolce & Gabbana to Alexander McQueen for over 30 years.
All of the supers also have their own entrepreneurial and philanthropic outlets whether they are in the private eye or not. Only Linda has really chosen to retreat away from any public scrutiny. As she mentions in the documentary - most of the time she just didn’t even step outside after a beauty procedure went wrong and left her '“brutally disfigured”.
But why are they all - working or not- having such a resurgence in an already saturated and fast moving space? Nostalgia is of course a rose tinted beast and with the 90’s making a global fashion comeback (including that hideous dresses over jeans trend that just refuses to die) so too are the mannequins that wore them.
But I think it’s a little bit more than that. I think we still don’t really know who they are and this, in a world of 24/7 celebrity access, just kills us. What did they look like in the morning? Did they ever yell at paparazzi? Who were their boyfriends? What do their laughs sound like? Why don’t we have TikTok videos of them falling out of clubs? Why have we not seen up their skirts in tabloid pictures? These were the questions we would never get the answers to so we lapped up every glossy editorial we could get our hands on. We watched and re-watched George Michael’s music video. Apart from that the tabloids were really the only other space we could glean some semblance of a relationship with them. Which is exactly why perhaps now they are being a teensy weensy bit exploited - by Apple TV, by designers and by the very fashion bibles that created them.
Don’t get me wrong it’s obviously a symbiotic relationship. These gals are nothing if not business savvy (as the Apple TV documentary proves). But I find it interesting how the media are desperate to sap every ounce of mystery from these glamazons. Ironically I think the lack of accessibility in some part helped give the supermodels their legendary allure. A lot of the time (Cindy’s PEPSI ad for example) we didn’t hear them speak. And the new flock of beauties, while breathtakingly (and in some cases painstakingly) beautiful - are just too present for us to be really excited about them. I know what Kendall’s laugh sounds like, I have probably seen more of Bella Hadid’s body than I have my own and the amount of tabloid fodder, social media scrutiny and TikTok videos make these girls pretty wallpaper compared to the exotic birds of paradise that shone in the 80’s.
So the media machine is now squeezing them for all they are worth. All styled and posed and looking suitably click bait appropriate. But it all feels a little awkward - ‘stilted’ is the word. Most notably Claudia Schiffer eyeballing the front row for SS24 Versace. While gorgeous, she didn’t seem to have a clue as to how to walk in her high heels, giving off an almost 60’s Stepford wife robot feel that was at odds with her effortless 90’s era Guess campaigns.
While the Apple TV documentary is in parts interesting, it also glosses over or never even addresses truly interesting and relevant content - Naomi’s temper, Linda’s career-ending beauty procedure, sexual predators within the industry (Linda having personally suffered at the hands of one), changing beauty standards with the advent of social media, filters and the like, their thoughts on the new crop of models, the future of the industry, descrimination, etc. It picked up and discarded interesting themes of the supers’ influence on the cultural zeitgeist as they grew to demand their own pay and become involved in causes close to their hearts or more cultural events rather than just fash’un. It all felt a little too controlled, too smoke and mirrors and too rushed to really give these iconic women their dues. But maybe getting too close to your idols is not a good thing - they lose a little bit of their shine.
Check out The Super Models now playing on Apple TV.