Supermodels List: The Most Famous Models of All Time

Models have been around as long as fashion has, but supermodels are a different thing entirely. A supermodel is someone you know by first name. Someone who sells magazines just by being on the cover, and who stays famous long after she stops walking runways.

The word really took off in the late 80s and early 90s, when a handful of women became bigger than the clothes they wore. Since then, each generation has produced its own set of icons, from the Victoria's Secret Angels of the 2000s to today's social-media-era stars.

Here are 18 famous supermodels, era by era, who turned modeling into superstardom.

The Original Supermodels

Cindy Crawford

That beauty mark. That Pepsi commercial. Cindy Crawford was everywhere in the early 90s, from Vogue covers to hosting MTV's House of Style. She also turned her fame into a business long before models were expected to, and today her daughter Kaia Gerber is carrying on the family name.

Linda Evangelista

Linda Evangelista is the supermodel behind one of fashion's most famous quotes, saying she and her friends didn't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day. She was also a hair chameleon, and her short crop in the late 80s set off a craze. After stepping away for several years, she made an emotional comeback with Fendi and a British Vogue cover in 2022.

Christy Turlington

Christy Turlington was the face of Calvin Klein's Eternity for years and was known for having the most classically perfect face of her generation. She later founded Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit that works to make childbirth safer for women around the world.

Claudia Schiffer

German model Claudia Schiffer was discovered in a nightclub in Düsseldorf and went on to become one of Karl Lagerfeld's favorite muses at Chanel. Her Guess campaigns, with their Brigitte Bardot vibe, are still some of the most famous of the era.

Naomi Campbell

Naomi Campbell's runway walk is still the one every model gets compared to. She broke barriers as the first Black model on the cover of French Vogue and is still booking major shows today. She's also featured on our list of famous Black models who changed fashion, alongside icons like Iman and Tyra Banks.

Kate Moss

Kate Moss was spotted at JFK airport at just 14 and went on to change the definition of a supermodel. Small, effortlessly cool and very British, she became the face of Calvin Klein and a street-style icon. Decades later, she's still one of the most in-demand names in fashion.

Elle Macpherson

Australian model Elle Macpherson was nicknamed "The Body" after a famous Time magazine story, and she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit five times. She later built a successful lingerie and wellness business.

Supermodels of the 2000s and 2010s

Gisele Bündchen

Gisele Bündchen basically ended the "heroin chic" era single-handedly with her healthy, bombshell look. The Brazilian model topped Forbes' list of the highest-paid models for well over a decade and retired from the runway in 2015 with a farewell walk at São Paulo Fashion Week.

Heidi Klum

Heidi Klum was a Victoria's Secret Angel for years, then reinvented herself as a TV powerhouse with Project Runway and Germany's Next Topmodel. And let's be honest, her Halloween costumes are an event of their own every October.

Adriana Lima

Brazilian model Adriana Lima was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 to 2018, making her the brand's longest-serving Angel. Those blue-green eyes and that runway strut made her one of the most recognizable faces of the 2000s.

Natalia Vodianova

Natalia Vodianova's story is a real-life fairy tale. She grew up in Russia selling fruit at a street stall with her mother, then was scouted and quickly landed a huge Calvin Klein contract. She also founded the Naked Heart Foundation, which supports children with special needs.

Karlie Kloss

At over 6 feet tall, Karlie Kloss became one of the most booked runway models of the 2010s. Off the catwalk, she founded Kode With Klossy, a free coding camp for girls, and took over as host of Project Runway.

Today's Top Supermodels

Gigi Hadid

Gigi Hadid helped define what a modern supermodel looks like, someone who's just as big on Instagram as she is on the runway. She was named International Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2016 and later launched her own knitwear label, Guest in Residence.

Bella Hadid

Gigi's younger sister Bella Hadid has one of the most talked-about runway moments of the decade: having a dress sprayed directly onto her body at Coperni's 2022 Paris show. She's also a favorite of fashion's edgier brands and launched her own fragrance line, Orebella.

Kendall Jenner

Kendall Jenner went from reality TV to the world's top runways, and for a while she was the highest-paid model in the world according to Forbes. She's walked for Chanel, Givenchy and Marc Jacobs, and also founded the tequila brand 818.

Kaia Gerber

Kaia Gerber is Cindy Crawford's daughter, and the resemblance is hard to miss. She made her runway debut at Calvin Klein in 2017 and has since walked for basically every big house. She's also moved into acting and runs a book club called Library Science.

Irina Shayk

Irina Shayk became the first Russian model on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in 2011. Since then she's become a runway favorite for brands like Versace, Burberry and Jean Paul Gaultier, known for her fierce walk and striking features.

Paloma Elsesser

Paloma Elsesser is changing what a supermodel looks like. One of the most in-demand curve models in the world, she's walked for Fendi and Michael Kors, landed major Vogue covers, and become a powerful voice for size inclusivity in fashion.

Final Thoughts

From Cindy's beauty mark to Bella's spray-on dress, every era of fashion has its faces. What makes a supermodel isn't just looks, though. It's the ability to become part of pop culture, and every woman on this list managed that.

Want to see where it all started? Our guides to 80s makeup trends and 90s fashion trends break down the bold brows, glossy lips and slip dresses the original supers made famous.