When Peter Lindbergh shot British Vogue’s classic January 1990 cover, he did a lot to cement the ’90s as “the decade of the supermodel” – yet the supers had been a regular presence in the magazine’s pages for years by that point. Christy landed her first cover in July 1986, posing serenely in a Donna Karan halter, with Cindy following in January 1987, dressed in a navy wool bouclé Chanel dress and an oversized pearl necklace. Then came Naomi in December 1987, fronting the first issue of Liz Tilberis’s editorship in a “gilded fantasy” of a Chanel jacket, and, finally, Linda in January 1989, beaming in a Rifat Ozbek blazer and leopard-print bra. With ’80s trends dominating the catwalks once again – and the Big 4’s influence yet to wane – here, Vogue looks back at the supers’ earliest appearances in the pages of British Vogue.
