Modeling Journey

I have every edition of American Vogue dating back to Anna Wintour's premiere issue as Editor-in-chief in November 1988. I fondly recall spending a large part of my adolescence pouring over the pages of American Vogue, searching for the names of the models, make up artists, stylists and photographers. The late Eighties and Nineties were a magical period. Each month I would hunt down the latest issue of American Vogue at news stands all over my hometown in Sydney Australia, anxiously anticipating who would be that month's cover model. 

An appearance on the cover of American Vogue was and still is, the very highest accolade that a model can achieve throughout her modelling career. It was during this period that photographers such as Arthur Elgort, Peter Lindbergh, Patrick Demarchelier, Herb Ritts and Steven Meisel collaborated with a select group of young women including Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Tatjana Patitz and Linda Evangelista. Many of the images that would appear on the cover and within the pages of American Vogue are now iconic and at the time set a new standard for fashion photography.

With the advent of the internet and the cult of celebrity, models now seldom appear on the cover of American Vogue. Models have since been replaced by actresses as cover subjects and unfortunately the covers of US Vogue have become banal and predictable, with an endless stream of covers featuring the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman. I miss the spontaneity, grace and astounding beauty that models bring to the fore as cover subjects and now find myself pouring over newsstands in Berlin where I now reside, searching for the latest edition of Paris Vogue and Vogue Italia. Below is a selection of my all-time favourite American Vogue covers.

Before the emergence of Doutzen Kroes, Lara Stone, Daphne Groeneveld et al, the Netherland's was duly represented by supermodel Karen Mulder. Mulder was discovered in 1985 at the age of fifteen year when a friend sent in pictures of her to the Elite Agency's reknowned Elite Model Look competition. Mulder placed second and was swiftly signed onto Elite's books. Standing at 180 cm with honey blonde tresses and classically beautiful features, Mulder quickly ascended the ranks of the modelling ladder working for high-profile clients like Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Versace and Calvin Klein. Mulder came to represent the epitome of the classic blonde however with a refined European elegance and sophistication that was missing amongst her American counterparts.

Mulder became a regular fixture within the pages and on the covers of high fashion publications like British Vogue, Paris Vogue and American Vogue, and was photographed habitually by influential photographers of the day; Arthur Elgort, Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindberg, Francesco Scavullo, Helmut Newton and Irving Penn. By 1991, Mulder had hit her stride professionally, landing multi-million dollar contracts with Guess, Calvin Klein and Chanel cosmetics. Mulder formed part of an exclusive group of supermodels during the nineties including Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer and Tatjana Patitz, appearing together on the cover of the 100th Anniversary issue of American Vogue shot by Patrick Demarchelier.

During the latter part of her career, Mulder capitalised on her wholesome good looks by appearing in the coveted Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and became a Victoria's Secret staple model. Mulder retreated from modelling in 2000 and has gone on record as saying that "From the beginning I hated being photographed. For me, it was just an assumed role, and in the end, I didn't really know who I was as a person. Everybody was saying to me, 'Hi, you're fantastic.' But inside, I felt worse from day to day." Mulder's life post-modelling has since been characterised by personal and emotional issues which have been widely documented in the international press.