List of 13 original supermodels

Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen, Carla Bruni, Linda Evangelista, Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen, Elle Macpherson and Tyra Banks are not the original supermodels. Although Cheryl Rae Tiegs, Beverly Johnson, Janice Dickinson, Twiggy and Veruschka are very important icons in fashion history, they are not the original supermodels, either.

Among the living legends in the modelling industry are Peggy Moffitt, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Nena Von Schlebrugge, Marisa Berenson, Hean Shrimpton, Penelope Tree and Christie Brinkley. But here are 13 supermodels who came before them: 

13. Naomi Sims

Achieving worldwide recognition from the 1960s to the 1970s, Sims is considered the first African-American supermodel. In 2009, she died of breast cancer in New Jersey at the age of 61.

12. Hiroko Matsumoto

During a trip to Japan in 1960, Italian born French fashion designer Pierre Cardin, 95, met Matsumoto, who became his muse and the first ever Japanese model for a French clothing collection. In 2003, she died of an undisclosed cause in Paris at the age of 67.

11. Sunny Harnett

Harnett was one of the supermodels in the 1950s but she quit modelling when she became an assistant to Ford Models’ co-founder Eileen Ford. In 1987, Harnett died from injuries sustained in a fire at a home for long-term care at the age of 63.  

10. Wilhelmina Cooper

From the Netherlands, Cooper moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois and became one of the supermodels of the 1950s and the 1960s. In 1980, she died of lung cancer in Greenwich, Connecticut at the age of 40.

9. Anne Sainte-Marie
Among the sophisticated and elegant supermodels of the 1950s, Sainte-Marie is arguably the most mysterious one as very little is known about her. She was married to photographer Tom Palumbo and she died of lung cancer in 1986. 

8. Dorothy Virginia Margaret "Dovima" Juba
While most top models in the 1950s were receiving around $25 an hour, Dovima commanded $60 an hour and was known for her aristocratic sophisticated style. In 1990, she died of liver cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the age of 62.

7. Mary Jane Russell
Armed with a long neck and classical features, Russell made her modelling debut in 1948 and went on to become one of the supermodels of the 1950s despite being short by traditional female modeling standards as she was only 5'6". In 2003, she died of pulmonary fibrosis in Charleston, South Carolina at the age of 77. 

6. Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker

Professionally known as Dorian Leigh, she was only 5’5” tall and she was 27 when she made her modelling debut but she managed to become one of the supermodels of the 1940s and the 1950s. In 2008, she died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 91.

5. Suzy Parker

Known as the elegant red-headed beauty gracing numerous magazine covers from the 1940s to the 1960s, Suzy became the first supermodel to earn $100,000 a year in 1956. In 2003, she died of diabetes in Montecito, California at the age of 70.

4. Jean Patchett

From the 1940s to the 1960s, Patchett was a top fashion model and was famous for being one of the first high-fashion models to not appear warm and friendly. In 2002, she died of emphysema in La Quinta, California at the age of 75.

3. Anita Colby

Hailing from New York, Colby moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as an actress and eventually became the highest paid model at $50 an hour during her time. Nicknamed The Face, she appeared on any billboard and ads, many of which were for cigarette advertisers from the 1930s to the 1960s, and in 1992, she died of lung disease in New York at the age of 77.

2. Lisa Fonssagrives

Born in Sweden, Fonssagrives graced the covers of numerous magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s. In 1992, she died of pneumonia at New York Hospital at the age of 80.

1. Audrey Munson

At 17, Munson started a career as an actress in 1909 and eventually became the most sought-after model for photographers and sculptors in the 1910s. For 65 years, she was treated for depression and schizophrenia in the St. Lawrence State Hospital for the Insane until her death in 1996 at the age of 104.