Frida Gustavsson

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Gia Carangi

Gia Carangi was an American fashion model during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Carangi, who was of Italian, Welsh and Irish ancestry, was considered by some to be the first supermodel. Cindy Crawford who also appeared on the covers of several fashion publications during her time, was later referred to as "Baby Gia", due to her resemblance to Carangi. Gia Carangi was also the first to present unusual poses, facial expressions and gestures. She is credited by many at the upper echelons of fashion to have created a new style of modeling, emulated by models since then to the present.

Carangi was featured on the cover of many fashion magazines, including Vogue, April 1, 1979; Vogue Paris, April 1979; American Vogue, August 1980; Vogue Paris, August 1980; Italian Vogue, January 1981; and several issues of Cosmopolitan between 1979 and 1982.

Gia, who was known in modeling circles just by her first name, had a turbulent childhood. Her parents fought frequently, and she was given little attention. She moved from Philadelphia to New York City at the age of 17, and quickly rose to prominence. She was the favorite model of many eminent fashion photographers, including Francesco Scavullo, Arthur Elgort, Richard Avedon, and Chris von Wangenheim, and she posed for photos in many countries. By the end of 1978, Carangi was already a well-established model.

Carangi was a regular at Studio 54 and the Mudd Club. She usually used cocaine in clubs but later began to develop a heroin addiction.

On March 1, 1980, Carangi's agent, Wilhelmina Cooper, died of lung cancer. Devastated, Carangi started abusing drugs. In the November 1980 issue of Vogue, Carangi's track marks from shooting heroin were visible even after airbrushing. For three weeks, she was signed with Eileen Ford, who soon dropped her.

In 1981, Carangi enrolled in a 21-day detox program, and started dating a college student, Elyssa Golden. The Carangi family, along with her mother, had suspected that Golden had a drug problem. Carangi soon began using again. She moved out of her mother's house and in with some friends, once again entering a detox program.

Her attempt to quit drugs was shattered when she learned that her good friend and fashion photographer Chris von Wangenheim died in a car accident. According to the Stephen Fried book, Thing of Beauty, Carangi locked herself in a bathroom for hours, shooting heroin. In the fall of 1981, she looked far different from the top model she once had been. However, she was still determined to make a comeback in the fashion industry. She contacted Monique Pillard, who was hesitant to sign her. For her second time, Carangi received the harsh treatment she skipped last time. Nobody would book her. Desperate, she turned to Scavullo. She landed a Cosmopolitan cover, a gift from Scavullo. Shot in the winter of 1982, it would be her last cover.

In West Germany, a budding fashion industry was being created. Although seen as tacky by the designers from New York, Paris and Milan, the Germans were willing to pay 10,000 marks a week to shoot Carangi abroad. However, no one in the States would book her. In the spring of 1983, she was caught with drugs in a shoot in Africa. Her career was over.

After pressure from her family she entered a drug-rehabilitation program again at Eagleville Hospital. After six months, she was released from the program and moved back to Philadelphia, where she seemed to be getting her life back on track. She started taking classes in photography and cinematography. But, three months later, she had vanished once again, and had returned to Atlantic City, and started shooting heroin again and was raped. She soon became sick with pneumonia, and her mother came and checked her into a hospital in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Carangi was diagnosed with AIDS, then a newly recognized disease. As her condition worsened, she was transferred to Philadelphia's Hahnemann University Hospital. Her mother stayed with her day and night, allowing virtually no visitors.

On November 18, 1986 at 10 a.m., Carangi died of AIDS-related complications. She was 26 years old. Her funeral was held on November 21 at a small funeral home in Philadelphia. Nobody from the fashion world attended. Her death was not widely publicized and few people in the fashion industry knew of it. Carangi is thought to be one of the first famous women to die of AIDS.

A biography of Carangi by Stephen Fried called Thing of Beauty was published in 1993. A biographical film, Gia, debuted on HBO in 1998. Angelina Jolie starred in the title role, garnering a Golden Globe award for the role. via biggeststars.com

       

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Jac&Frida

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Freja

Bambi

Jessica Stam

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Edita Vilkeciviute

Edita Vilkeviciute by Sølve Sundsbø for Vogue China Collections SS 2011

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Abby Brothers by Grant Yoshino

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Agyness Deyn - Culture Call

Agyness Deyn for Culture Call Spring 2011 Campaign by Max Farago

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Miss Bambi

Carolines Mode

Jean Shrimpton

Jean Shrimpton was one of the world’s most famous models of the Sixties. Born in Buckinghamshire in 1942, she was never really happy as a model, even though she was internationally famous by the age of eighteen, was working with all the top photographers on both sides of the Atlantic and appearing on the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair. 

Jean Shrimpton's services were in great demand, yet she never made a fraction of the sums earned by the supermodels of today. She has commented, “Today’s models are more concerned with money. We were not. We never earned very much.” She also pointed out that in her day models were expected to arrive on time with their hair done and make-up in place. “Unlike today,” she says, “there were no hairdressers and make-up artists in the sessions.” Shrimpton graduated from the Lucie Clayton modelling school and fell in love with photographer David Bailey, a married man. The naïve girl from the country and the streetwise cockney set up house together in a scruffy London basement stuffed with animals and birds, including 24 finches and lovebirds and two dogs, Monie and Bertie. They worked together as a team, travelling throughout Europe and America on top fashion assignments.
 Bailey obtained a divorce from his wife Rosemary in December 1963, but by that time Jean, who was now known as ‘the Shrimp’, had decided she didn’t want to marry him. She also hated the name ‘the Shrimp’, saying, “Shrimps are horrible pink things that get their heads pulled off!” By January 1964 she’d embarked on a three-year affair with film actor Terence Stamp.
 Although her face was famous throughout the world, her major contribution to the fashion revolution didn’t occur until 1965 when she was hired to present the prizes for the Melbourne Cup in Australia. The fashion company Orlon, who hired her, didn’t brief her on the assignment. They also sent her some inexpensive dress and suit lengths, rather than ready-made outfits.
 Jean was left to design what she wanted and had them made up. She hired a dressmaker, Colin Rolf, who discovered there was not sufficient fabric for her designs. He then said, “Oh, it doesn’t matter. Make them a bit shorter – no one’s going to notice.” “And that’s how the mini was born,” says the Shrimp. She settled for four outfits, all above the knee.
On the day of the race she didn’t bother wearing any stockings, her dress was short, she had no hat or gloves – and the organisers were cross. The Melbourne Cup was the smartest event in the Australian year; the conservatively dressed members of Australian society who attended were shocked at her appearance, which they considered insulting and disgraceful.
 She was surrounded by photographers shooting upwards to make her skirt look even shorter. She became a cause celebre. She appeared on the front pages of newspapers throughout the world. It created a huge controversy in Australia, with half the country for her and half against – with the young people loving it. She was to say, “All over Australia your girls started shortening their skirts. The pictures, which the British newspaper had used, had the same results back home. Suddenly the mini, which had had a half-hearted start in Paris, became fashionable. “Mary Quant rode in on the back of it, immediately making shorter skirts. Many people gave her credit for the new craze, but the truth was that the mini took off because Orlon had been stingy with the fabric.” In 1967, while in New York, she began an affair with photographer Jordan Kalfus, who’d previously lived with Ali McGraw, a model who had begun a new career as a film star. The two lived together for two years, but Jean pined for London. She ended the affair in 1969. She was now 26 years old and had been modelling for eight years.
 The new man in her life was Heathcote Williams, an anarchic and virtually penniless writer for the Transatlantic Revue. Their relationship proved to be a volatile one. Jean bought a house in Darnley Terrace, Holland Park, in which there was a study for Williams to work in. However, he kept a virtual open house. She was to comment that he invited many of the people he was working with to stay; “but they did not contribute to the household expenses, not even towards the telephone calls they made. I suppose they couldn’t. I was the only one with any money. I did not take too much notice at first, but when the money began to run out and I was forced to look for work, I began to think differently.” The two argued and split up. Malcolm, a friend of Williams, arrived on her doorstep one day. She told him that Heathcote didn’t live there any more, but invited him to stay. They became lovers and the affair lasted for seven years.

      

They decided to visit Cornwall where Malcolm had studied at Falmouth Art School. He also had a Cornish wife and a girlfriend who’d had his baby, before leaving him. They initially rented a cottage near Penzance, and then moved on to Wales for a time. The Shrimps’ money was shrinking fast, particularly since she had Malcolm’s wife, girlfriend and two children to consider. After two years in Wales they moved back to London, sold the big house in Holland Park and bought a smaller property near Ladbroke Grove. Malcolm became homesick for Cornwall and because Jean had come to like Cornwall so much, they decided to go and live there. To earn more money she phoned her agent to ask for work and was booked for a modelling assignment in the Algarve. She was working with another model, a young Dutch girl called Willie, who was given the best clothes and more shots. Jean realised she had been superseded. The house in Wales was sold and a cottage in Camborne became their new home.
 Jean was now 33 years old and realised her modelling days were over. A friend suggested she open an antiques shop.One of her customers was a tall, handsome blond man, Michael Cox. When Malcolm had become involved with a group of Buddhists who had decided to move on to Cambridgeshire, he opted to go with them. Jean stayed behind in Cornwall and her affair with Michael began. He was to divorce his wife Caroline and the couple were married at Penzance register office in January 1979. Jean was three months pregnant at the time. They held their wedding reception at the Abbey Hotel, an old Gothic-fronted house that overlooked the harbour. Her pregnancy was a difficult one because she has a condition called hyperemesis-gravidarum, which causes acute dehydration. Soon after their son Thaddeus was born, they heard that the Abbey Hotel was up for sale and decided to buy it. That is where Jean, Michael and Thaddeus live today and Jean is happier than she’s ever been.

She was never comfortable with the trappings of success – when David Bailey used to take her to trendy nightclubs, she’d take her knitting with her! – and loved running her hotel. The Abbey Hotel is an enchanting place – and there is not one picture of ‘the Shrimp’ as a model to be found anywhere on the premises!

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Anna Rudenko & Ana Clara Lasta by Michael Donovan for Factory Winter 2010

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Rasa Zukauskaite

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altamira: modelsoffduty.com

Vanessa Jackman