Then: Naturally, Gigi Hadid began modelling at 2 years old having been discovered by Paul Marciano of Guess clothing. She stopped modelling to concentrate on school but eventually returned to the industry in 2011.
Now: Well now she’s just one of the most in-demand models in the world, storming just about every single runway.
Casual.
Then: Adriana Lima started modelling at the age of 15 when she won Ford’s ‘Supermodel of Brazil’ competition and signed with Elite Model Management.
Lima said she’d never really considered modelling before, but her friends encouraged her to enter the competition telling her she was tall and beautiful.
Now: These days? Oh, no biggie. She’s just Victoria’s Secrets longest-running model and Forbes’ second-highest earning model since 2014.
Then: Born in London, Polish-Israeli Emily Ratajkowski was obsessed with theatre from a young age and landed many small roles in her youth including in two episodes of the third season of Nickelodeon’s iCarly. At age 14 she also got signed with Ford Models after encouragement from her acting coach and cites family trips to nudist beaches as why she is so comfortable with posing nude.
Now: EmRata (as we now affectionately call her) hit the big time when she starred in Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines after casting agents saw her cover for erotica magazine, treats! . She’s since covered a ton of magazines and made her foray into acting, playing Ben Affleck’s other woman in Gone Girl. She’s also won the (unofficial) award for Best Body In All The Land.
Then: Canada-born fashion model Winnie Harlow was diagnosed with skin condition vitiligo at a young age, characterised by depigmentation of portions of the skin. Bullying caused her to change schools several times…
Now: Skip forward a few years and Winnie found fame on America’s Next Top Model with Tyra Banks as a judge (see her later on), where she placed sixth overall. Since then, Winnie has gone on to front campaigns for high-profile designers such as Diesel and Swarovski, and starred in Beyonce’s visual album, Lemonade. Goals. She’s also a spokeswoman for vitiligo suffers.
Then: She’s now one of the most in-demand models in the industry, but once upon a time, Bella Hadid’s dreams ran on an entirely different path… The stunner dreamt of competing in this year’s Rio Olympics, believe it or not. She was an equestrian player but had to give up competing in 2013 due to her suffering with Lyme disease.
Now: These days, Bella has modelled for every big designer from Givenchy to Chanel. Her look has changed a fair bit, too, with speculation that Bella has had surgery on her nose and lip fillers, though neither have been confirmed by the model.
Then: Kate Moss, supermodel extraordinaire, wasn’t much of an academic teenager. For her GCSEs, she received one C grade in Science with the rest being Ds, Es and Fs. Then, at age 14, as she waited for a stop-off flight on the way back from a family holiday in the Bahamas, Kate was discovered by Sarah Doukas, founder of Storm Model Management. And you know the rest…
Now: After an incredible modelling career spanning three decades, Kate is now one of the most influential models of all time (and the second highest earning, too, with Forbes estimating her earnings at $9. 2 million a year).
Then: Recognise this face? It’s a young Cara Delevingne way before her modelling heyday. Cara described herself as a teenage prankster, telling The Sun: “I loved setting off fire alarms a lot at school”.
Now: These days, Cara models for pretty much every big designer you can name and her eyebrows have single-handedly caused a decline in tweezer sales. Well, just look at them. She’s also now a model-slash-actress, having made her Hollywood debut playing a lead role in Paper Towns, and with an upcoming role in Suicide Squad.
Then: At the age of 16 (before she was scouted) Linda Evangelista had a fruit picking job at a farm. The supermodel said she always had holiday jobs as a teenager to pay for the latest fashion.
Now: Flash forward and Linda, now 51 (can you believe it? ), has been on over 700 magazine covers and is credited with coining the phrase “We don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day,” about her and her fellow 90s supermodels.
Then: Candice Swanepoel grew up on a farm in South Africa and studied ballet before she was scouted by a model agent at just 15-years-old. We’re not used to that mousey brown hair…
Now: These days Victoria’s Secret beauty Candice is a blonde bombshell through and through and known for her *incredible* body. Those ballet lessons clearly did wonders.
Then: Growing up, Claudia Schiffer wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and become a lawyer. She also suffered from awkward teenage hair phases like the rest of us, apparently…
Now: These days, the German supermodel holds the Guiness World Record for having featured on over 1000 magazine covers. What a title.
Then: She’s not all looks – Cindy Crawford was the clever kid in school and dreamed of becoming a nuclear physicist. She was bullied for being a straight A student and it got worse when she got her first modelling job as it caused jealousy among her classmates.
Now: These days Cindy still gives us ALL the goals. She’s also the *spitting* image of her daughter Kaia Gerber, now fourteen. Just look.
Then: She’s the supermodel of the moment, but back before the world’s eyes were on her, Kendall Jenner was just a normal teen. She had her first kiss with her school crush Chad Willcox as a result of a good old fashioned game of Truth or Dare. The magic happened behind a shower curtain in her mum, Kris Jenner’s bathroom, apparently.
Now: These days, Kendall knows how to work a camera like no other. She’s also rocking far more tamed brows.
Then: Recognise this cheeky face? Of course you do, it’s supermodel Karlie Kloss with a 90s bob going on. As a child, she loved maths and science at school which is why she enrolled at the Gallatin School of Individualised Study of New York University.
Now: Flash forward and the 23 year-old model is an avid coder. Side job, perhaps? She’s also racked up countless impressive modelling jobs and her own cookie range.
Then: At the age of 16, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was voted as one of the prettiest girls in her school by her classmates. But her younger years saw her bullied for her unusual look; people apparently called her “Kipper lips” on account of her full pout!
Now: These days, Rosie is still breathtakingly beautiful, having modelled for every big designer in the fashion dictionary, and is dating actor Jason Statham.
Then: Recognise this pretty face? Of course you do, it’s supermodel Tyra Banks looking all fresh-faced and gorgeous as her modelling career was just beginning. As a teen, Tyra said she was bullied and called an “ugly duckling”. Oh the irony…
Now: Flash forward to the present time and Tyra Banks has had a modelling career newcomers could only dream of. She also sits at the helm of America’s Next Top Model as the most badass judge in the business.
