Although we tend to regard the emergence of the ‘supermodel’ as something
Anita Colby
which occurred around the mid-1980s, references to the term can be dated back to not just the last century, but the one before that. In 1891 in an interview with The Strand magazine, wildlife painter Henry Stacy Marks referred to a particular type of “theatrical’ male model as ‘the super model’. This seems to be the earliest recorded use of the phrase but of course it doesn’t really relate to what we think of as a modern supermodel.
The 1940s saw several references to supermodels in magazines which described something which was closer to what we know. Perhaps the first woman to be described thus was Anita Colby, the highest paid model of the era.
By the 1960s the term had well and truly entered the modelling world. Twiggy is often regarded as the first U.K. supermodel, a model and celebrity who’s name meant more than being just a attractive clotheshorse. There were regular uses of the word on both sides of the Atlantic by this time – Vogue, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post were all familiar with the term.
American actress and model Janice Dickinson claimed ownership of the term in 1979,
Janice Dickinson
despite all the previous evidence. She says it was a combination of the words ‘Superman’ and ‘model’ and in a conversation with her agent said “I’m a supermodel honey, and you will refer to me as a supermodel….”. Again, contrary to all the previous facts, Dickinson thinks she was the first supermodel.
The point at which a ‘model’ becomes a ‘supermodel’ must surely be when the general public recognise that person outside the modelling context. They become written about in gossip columns, recognised in the street, stalked by the press and, most importantly for them, command gigantic fees for strolling up and down the catwalk or advertising some cosmetic product.
Part Two follows….