Supermodels are cultural ambassadors
The supermodel era is sometimes brushed aside as frivolous excess and superficial glamour. It was actually really a time when fashion, politics, pop culture and the arts came into play. These models were involved in so much when it came to the intersections of fashion because high and popular fashion brings together many people from other sectors and sparks art movements.
Twiggy the first supermodel and cultural ambassador having had countless high profile shoots, even had a doll with her likeness made of her. Her androgynous look was so pivotal of the decade and of Britain at that time, she seen as a British cultural icon, that later in her career she was awarded with the title of dame. One of the first supermodels to literally tour the world selling the swinging London scene and British tourism the world.
Supermodels themselves visit London, Milan and New York along with other major cities kinda like foreign diplomats or ambassadors. The clothes they wear are a cultural tapestry from different designers from these cities. From Italian and Miami style from Versace to French Chanel and Azzedine Alaia.
Not only do they visit different countries on a regular basis but there was an instance of a model that attracted international press without being famous but on the basis of their profession only.
Iman who her father was an ambassador, was discovered in university by photographer Peter Beard, little did she know then she would become an ambassador herself, garnering a press release with over sixty members of the media. She ended up being the face of African beauty and blackness in the 70s and in that era.
Meeting royalty or high ranking political officials is part and parcel with the job of being a supermodel, even ending up in an intimate relationship with them like Claudia Schiffer who dated Prince Albert the Second of Monaco and also rubbing shoulders with them like when…..
Naomi Campbell along with her fellow supermodels, Christy Turlington, Kate Moss and others met Nelson Mandela during a pivotal time in their cultural ambassadorship because it was the early period of the post apartheid government. They staged a Gianni Versace fashion show to raise money for Nelson Mandela Children Fund. Nelson Mandela even bestowed Naomi Campbell with the honour of being his honorary granddaughter.
Naomi Campbell and many supermodels have rubbed shoulders with presidents, politicians, and rockstars further proving their cultural ambassadorship but there can be many positives that come with it but also many negatives. Being cultural ambassadors and celebrities their reputations might be tarnished to their fans and profession if seen with the wrong people. When Naomi Campbell accepted a blood diamond from Liberian Leader Charles Taylor and was swept into an international scandal.
The Pepsi ad and globalisation
Being a supermodel also entangles itself a lot in economics.Cindy Crawford career is literally the story of neoliberalism and globalisation, her popular pepsi ad exuded americanness but a sort of american capitalism which was sweeping the world at the time with the end of the cold war. Her brand is unlike any supermodel, because of the lucrative contracts she secured with Revlon and her home workout tapes. Her persona and look not only sold units of products but she appealed to the masses as a celebrity but weirdly through the capitalist construction of her brand of selling products.
Kate Moss the art movement of grunge
Kate Moss’s career inadvertently might have affected the grunge scene creating the ripple effects towards greater culture even affecting masses of people's bodies perception that still linger today. The heroin chic look along with grunge dominated the entire decade from fashion with heroin chic where she and other Supermodels walked for Marc Jacobs Perri Ellis and Anna Sui. Grunge affected art with bands such as Nirvana and the work of photographer David Sorrenti, to politics where Bill Clinton called the glorification of heroin destructive.
From these instances we can see that supermodels have been at the forefront as a cultural ambassadors and the career itself is much more than one might perceive.
