Supermodels of today are more than just nameless figures walking down the runway in beautiful clothes or girls in magazine spreads with their names printed at the bottom of the page.
Fashion’s latest crop of elite models are stepping off the catwalk and into the kitchen, onto movie sets, and leading speaking engagements in New York City. Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevingne, and Coco Rocha are leading examples of models that have decided to use the success they gained in fashion to further their careers.
For years, Karlie Kloss has been an industry favorite thanks to her unique look and powerful walk that has become her trademark during Fashion Week. Standing at six foot one, the IMG Model made her runway debut in Calvin Klein’s spring/summer show in 2007, and has been constantly working ever since.
While still in high school, Kloss was booking notable advertising campaigns for Dior, and became the face of Lola, a fragrance by Marc Jacobs. Although she is most recognized for her high fashion work, she recently earned her wings and began working as a Victoria’s Secret model.
In between scoring the coveted opening and closing spots for shows during Fashion Week, Kloss has graced the cover of Vogue an astounding 12 times, the first of which was on Teen Vogue’s February 2008 issue. The 21 year-old made the transition from sartorial darling to television star, as host of MTV’s “House of Style” and this year’s Video Music Awards pre-show.
The mega-talented model can now add humanitarian to her resume as she has begun collaborating with Momofuku on “Karlie’s Kookies”, a business venture that donates proceeds from the sale of her cookies to FEED Projects, which helps feed children across the globe.
Cara Delevingne has been a hot topic in British tabloids as of late, because of her constant partying with her famous friends Georgia May Jagger and Rihanna, and a rumor of a possible romance with Harry Styles. Whenever she’s not out for a night on the town, Delevingne can be seen walking the runways of the most famous designers in the world.
Delevingne has walked for Oscar de la Renta and Dolce & Gabbana in the past, and has recently been spotted strutting down the catwalk during Fashion Week for Burberry and Stella McCartney’s spring/summer 2014 collections. She also served as the face of DKNY in 2012, and landed the sought-after role as the face of this summer’s Chanel campaign.
Named “Model of the Year” by British Vogue in March, the stunner who has her own coloring book and “Queen Delevingne” t-shirt has decided to venture into acting. After a small role in 2012’s, “Anna Karenina”, the rising young star has landed her first leading role in “Kids in Love” set for release in 2014.
A true modeling veteran, Coco Rocha has been a figure in the fashion world since she signed with Supreme Management in 2004. Rocha made her first of many appearances on the cover of Vogue in 2006 at just 18 years-old, and has since modeled for the likes of Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen. Her most recognized runway appearance came when she performed an Irish dance down the catwalk for Jean Paul Gaultier.
Last year, Rocha left the catwalk behind for the silver screen when she became a mentor on the Oxygen reality series, “The Face”, which sought to find an aspiring model to become the face of beauty retailer Ulta. During her time on the show, she guided members of Team Coco through various challenges including a bridal fashion show and Marshall’s campaign shoot to finish in second place.
Rocha will be holding a seminar at Teen Vogue’s 8th Annual Fashion University event in New York City on Oct. 19th. There she will talk about her career and offer advice to aspiring models on how to break into the business and what to do to stand out from the competition.
Simply walking down the catwalk was never enough for Kloss, Delevingne, and Rocha. They have become pioneers in the modeling world and set the new standard for supermodels of today. Building upon their fashion careers and exploring new ventures has certainly set them up for continued future success.
