Modeling Journey

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.

The late Francesco Scavullo's name is synonymous with the seductive, head to toe all out glamour that was represented by the quintessential Cosmo girl. Over a thirty year period beginning in 1965, Scavullo captured the essence of the Cosmo girl as a sensuous, confident and sexually liberated woman. During this period, Scavullo together with his long time companion and stylist Sean M. Byrnes, was responsible for the selection of the model, the cleavage revealing outfits, make up and hairstyles that would eventually appear on the cover. Every model wanted to be a Cosmo girl and the Cosmopolitan cover was accompanied by a model profile and interview which provided  an insight into the personality and life of the cover model. Scavullo's stable of beauties included Lauren Hutton, Naomi Sims, Brooke Shields, Gia Carangi, Janice Dickinson and Christie Brinkley. I have many Cosmopolitan covers in my collection and the following selection is a chronicle of some of the most influential models of our time.