Beauty Icon Wednesday: Model Moments, Then & Now

Name: Karen Elson, born January 14th. 1979


Known for: Red hair, strong bone structure, marrying an equally pale rock star (Jack White)

Name: Mikhaila 'Coco' Rocha, born September 10th, 1988


Known for: Pale skin, high cheekbones, dancing an Irish jig down a Jean Paul Gaultier's runway.




Smart models – which is not an oxymoron by the way - know that they can only trade on their genetically blessed features for so long before losing out to something younger, newer, fresher. But the ‘Slashie’, as in model-slash-actor, has been done to death, so what’s a poor model to do? Well, here's how two of the industry's most successful commodities are coping with this Brave New multi-tasking World.

Karen Elson was my favourite model in the 90s. Coming out hot on the heels of the over-the-top 80's Supermodel, on the tail end of the Heroin Chic that Kate Moss embodied earlier in the decade, she emerged like an alien flower. With her orange-red hair and bleached out eyebrows, she was as freakish as she was beautiful. Karen's look was a refreshing change from what can so often become a revolving door of cookie cutter beauties. But even then, she was smart enough to know that her look would only last so long, and she evolved into an ethereal vintage fairy princess. Fourteen years after her first Steven Miesel-shot Italian Vogue cover, Karen is still modelling but, like any clever businesswoman, she has diversified. She's an accomplished musician, having released her first album last year, and is now launching a vintage-inspired collection of accessories for shoe retailer Nine West.  


Coco Rocha is my favourite of the new breed of model. Not going to lie - it doesn't hurt that she's also a Canadian. But it really wasn't until her flame-tressed campaign for H&M in the fall of 2009 that I truly fell under her spell. Her opposition to the anorexic industry standard and her recent agreement with Canadian retailer Jacob to star in an untouched ad campaign have only made me heart her more. But Coco is not just another pretty face on ridiculously long legs with fabulous hair - like Elson before her, she has also expanded upon her brand. But where Karen turned to the past for inspiration, Coco has fully embraced the future. In addition to her website, Coco also has a Facebook page, a Tumblr account and is very active on Twitter, where she interacts with her followers on a daily basis - just as every good brand should. 

I'm not too proud to say that yes, I follow Coco on Twitter. But I follow a lot of people. It is with some small amount of shame that I admit that as soon as I'm done with this post, I'll be looking to see if Karen Elson is on Twitter as well.  

Out of curiosity, you understand.