Naomi, Cindy, Linda, and Christy work with fashion titans and walk high-profile runways, leading to a music video that changes everything.
This episode originally aired on September 20, 2023
Hailing from Imagine Documentaries and One Story Up and directed by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams and Larissa Bills, the four-part series spotlights the remarkable careers of Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington. Much of The Super Models works like a straightforward documentary with Campbell, Crawford, Evangelista, and Turlington addressing the camera, recalling defining moments in their careers. Fashion-world figures including Marc Jacobs, Michael Musto, Tim Blanks, Robin Givhan, Bethann Hardison, Grace Coddington, Suzy Menkes, Tom Freston, Robin Givhan and Jeanne Baker offer insight to flesh out the women’s stories, providing context about the state of the industry three decades ago — how the culture zipping around it helped shape the runways and the fashion and beauty businesses as we know them today.
“The Fame,” the second episode of The Super Models, focuses on the supermodels’ meteoric rise to fame. Campbell, Crawford, Evangelista, and Turlington became the faces of some of the biggest fashion brands in the world, including Chanel, Dior, and Versace. They also appeared on the covers of magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle. They were also featured in music videos by George Michael (who could forget the iconic “Freedom! 90” video), Madonna, and Michael Jackson.
The episode also explores the challenges that the supermodels faced as they became more famous. They were often subjected to intense scrutiny and pressure. They were also often treated as objects of desire rather than human beings. However, they also used their fame to advocate for themselves and other women. For example, when Campbell was subjected to racist abuse by a designer, she refused to work with him again. And, when Evangelista was told that she would have to lose weight in order to book a job, she famously said, “We don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day.”
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