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Supermodels of the ’70s and ’80s

Before the term “supermodel” got slapped on every Instagram face with a skincare line, it meant something very specific: a handful of women whose faces moved magazines off newsstands and whose names ended up on cosmetics contracts worth millions. The ’70s and ’80s built that machine. Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, CoverGirl, Revlon, Estée Lauder, Studio 54 and the first wave of celebrity-model crossover all happened in about 20 years.

What’s striking looking back is how tall and how lean the standard was — and how openly the numbers were published. Agencies printed height, bust, waist and hips on comp cards like baseball stats. Most of these women ran 5’9″ to 6’0″ and were listed somewhere between 118 and 135 lbs.

Here are ten who defined the era, with their stats and what they’ve been doing since.

1. Jerry Hall

Image: derivative work: Wildhartlivie (talk)
Jerry Hall 1.jpg: Piers Allardyce / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Born July 2, 1956, in Gonzales, Texas, Hall is 6’0″ — unusually tall even by runway standards — and was listed around 130 lbs at her peak with 34-24-35 measurements. Illustrator Antonio Lopez spotted her on a beach in Saint-Tropez in 1973. Two years later she was on the cover of Roxy Music’s Siren, painted blue and draped over a rock.

She did 40-plus magazine covers, dated Bryan Ferry, then spent 22 years with Mick Jagger and had four children. She married Rupert Murdoch in 2016 and divorced in 2022. Hall credits Texas genetics and a lot of swimming over any gym routine.

2. Lauren Hutton

Image: Photo by Christopher Peterson / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hutton, born November 17, 1943, changed the business side of modeling. In 1973 she signed an exclusive contract with Revlon’s Ultima line — the first big guaranteed-money deal a model had landed — and the industry’s pay structure never went back.

She stands about 5’7½” and was listed near 120 lbs, short for the era. She refused to fix her gap teeth, which became the whole point. Hutton holds the record for American Vogue covers at 26, acted in American Gigolo (1980), and was back on runways in her 70s.

3. Beverly Johnson

Image: Series: Reagan White House Photographs, 1/20/1981 – 1/20/1989

Collection: White House Photographic Collection, 1/20/198 / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In August 1974, Johnson became the first Black model to cover American Vogue. A year later she did the same for French Elle. Born October 13, 1952, in Buffalo, she’s 5’9″ and modeled at about 125 lbs.

A competitive swimmer as a teenager, she nearly went the Olympic-trials route before modeling took over. Johnson has since written candidly about the eating disorders and crash dieting that were standard practice in ’70s agencies.

4. Cheryl Tiegs

Image: David Shankbone / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Three Sports Illustrated swimsuit covers — 1970, 1975 and 1983 — plus the 1978 pink fishnet swimsuit shot that sold a reported million posters. Tiegs, born September 25, 1947, is about 5’10” and was listed near 128 lbs.

She landed a long-running CoverGirl deal, a clothing line at Sears, and a 1978 Time cover story about the rise of the model-as-brand. Now in her late 70s, she still does yoga most days.

5. Iman

Image: MiamiFilmFestival / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Photographer Peter Beard found Iman in Nairobi in 1975, and she was shooting for Vogue within months. Born July 25, 1955, in Mogadishu, she’s 5’9″ and worked at around 120 lbs. Yves Saint Laurent, Halston, Versace and Calvin Klein all used her as a house muse.

She retired from runway in 1989 and launched IMAN Cosmetics in 1994, built for darker skin tones the big brands ignored. She married David Bowie in 1992 and they were together until his death in 2016.

6. Christie Brinkley

Image: Steu111 at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Three straight SI swimsuit covers — 1979, 1980, 1981 — a feat nobody else managed. Born February 2, 1954, Brinkley is 5’9″ and has been listed around 130 lbs for decades. Her CoverGirl contract ran 25 years, one of the longest in cosmetics history.

The Uptown Girl video in 1983 turned her into a pop-culture fixture and eventually Billy Joel’s wife. A vegetarian since her teens, she credits that, daily movement and relentless sunscreen for how she’s aged.

7. Janice Dickinson

Dickinson, born February 16, 1955, in Brooklyn, has long claimed she coined the word “supermodel” about herself. Debatable. What isn’t: she booked more than 30 Vogue covers and shot with Scavullo, Avedon and Helmut Newton through the late ’70s and ’80s.

She’s about 5’10” and modeled near 120 lbs. Dickinson later judged America’s Next Top Model for four cycles and has spoken openly about addiction, recovery and her cosmetic work.

8. Carol Alt

Alt was discovered waiting tables on Long Island. Born December 1, 1960, she’s 5’10”, was listed around 128 lbs, and landed the SI swimsuit cover in 1982 along with more than 500 magazine covers worldwide.

Her second act is health: Alt switched to a raw-food diet in the mid-’90s after chronic fatigue and sinus problems, and wrote Eating in the Raw (2004) and The Raw 50 (2007). She’s stuck with it for close to 30 years.

9. Paulina Porizkova

Born April 9, 1965, in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia, Porizkova covered the SI swimsuit issue back-to-back in 1984 and 1985 — at 19 and 20. She’s 5’11” and modeled around 130 lbs.

Her 1988 Estée Lauder contract, widely reported at $6 million over six years, was among the richest ever signed at that point. She met Ric Ocasek on the set of The Cars’ Drive video in 1984; they married in 1989. She now writes about aging and grief, including her 2022 memoir No Filter.

10. Elle Macpherson

The Australian, born March 29, 1964, got nicknamed “The Body” by Time in 1989 and never shook it. She’s 5’11”, long listed at about 130 lbs with 35-24-35 measurements, and holds the record with five Sports Illustrated swimsuit covers.

Macpherson built a lingerie line, then the wellness company WelleCo in 2014. She’s trained with Pilates and swimming rather than heavy lifting, and has been public about her 2017 breast cancer diagnosis and treatment choices.

What ties this group together isn’t just bone structure. These ten were the first models to negotiate like businesses — exclusive contracts, name-brand lines, book deals — and several have spent the decades since being honest about what the industry cost them physically. The stats are a snapshot of one era’s standard. The careers are the actual story.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who were the biggest supermodels of the ’70s and ’80s?

The era was defined by names like Jerry Hall, Lauren Hutton, Beverly Johnson and Cheryl Tiegs, whose faces sold magazines and landed million-dollar cosmetics contracts.

How tall were supermodels in the ’70s and ’80s?

Most ran between 5’9″ and 6’0″ and were publicly listed between roughly 118 and 135 lbs, with height, bust, waist and hips printed right on agency comp cards.

Which model broke the color barrier on Vogue?

Beverly Johnson became the first Black model to cover American Vogue in August 1974, then covered French Elle the following year.

Who changed how models got paid?

Lauren Hutton signed an exclusive guaranteed-money contract with Revlon’s Ultima line in 1973, the first big deal of its kind, and the industry’s pay structure never went back.