A new documentary will chart the remarkable rise of four of the biggest names in fashion: Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford. Through a combination of archive footage and in-depth interviews, the Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models offers a unique glimpse into the world's of fashion's most high-profile names.
Told in four parts, ‘The Look’, ‘The Fame, ‘The Power’, and ‘The Legacy, the docuseries, which airs on 20 September, follows the women from their journeys into the industry as teenagers to the peak of their fame in the nineties.
Can't wait? Here are some of the biggest revelations in the documentary, plus everything we know about the series so far.
Naomi experienced racism from a young age - and throughout her career
Naomi reflects on her childhood in London, where she grew up with a strict family and attended a private school. ‘I was called the N word when I was five,’ she says. ‘I wasn’t going to accept to be bullied at school for the colour of my skin. My mother was paying my school fees just like everybody else. I had every right to be there, so go take your bullying somewhere else, is how I felt.’
Throughout the documentary, Naomi details how she continued to face racism throughout her career. Describing the experience of hailing a taxi with Christy Turlington while living in New York, Naomi said ‘I put out my hands many times on New York city streets and the taxis would fly by. Christy would put out her hand and they would stop. They would be like ‘I don’t want to go to Brooklyn’ and I’d be like ‘I’m not going to Brooklyn, why is he saying that? It didn’t strike me until Christy would have to stand out in front of me and get me a taxi to get to work’ She summed up this attitude towards her later in the documentary, saying ‘I started to understand, culturally, I was going to have to work really hard to be accepted.’
Linda was in an 'abusive' relationship with her model agency boss Gérald Marie
Linda married Gérald Marie, the head of Elite Model Management, in 1987 when she was 22. Their relationship lasted six years before they divorced in 1993. ‘It’s easier said than done to leave an abusive relationship. I understand that concept because I lived it. If it was a matter of saying I just want a divorce - it doesn’t work that way,’ she says, adding ‘He knew not to touch my face, not to touch the money maker.’ Gérald Marie was accused of a string of sexual offences in the 1980s and 1990s - which he denies - and the investigation has now been closed. ‘I would love for justice to be served. I would love for assholes like that to think twice and be afraid. I would love women to know they are not alone,’ she adds.
Cindy didn't always lover her beauty mark
Cindy reveals that she didn’t like her beauty mark growing up. ‘When you’re a kid, you don’t like anything that makes you different,’ she says, adding that her sisters would tease her that it was an ‘ugly mark’ because it was on her left side. ‘When I started modelling, it was always a discussion, like shall we cover it with makeup, we can’t really cover it with makeup because it’s not flat,’ she said. In her first British Vogue cover, they retouched the beauty mark. After working with renowned photographer Richard Avedon, Cindy landed two covers with American Vogue. ‘[They] left the mole on, and that was it, it was never a discussion again because it was kind of like the Vogue seal of approval. If it’s good enough for Vogue, it’s good enough for everyone,’ she says.
Naomi was called 'difficult' on several occasions
'It was hard to be an outspoken black woman and I definitely got the cane for it, many times,' says Naomi. She reveals John Casablanca took her to sign a year-long contract with Revlon but when she wasn't happy with the salary, she refused to agree to it. 'John got very embarrassed and then decided to call me difficult. And he then decided he was going to go to the press and say I was difficult and that he fired me.' she says, adding that the 'stigma' of his words 'messed' her work up for many years. 'I've heard crazy, I've heard nightmare, I've heard difficult. I was called difficult because I opened my mouth, period,' she says.
Linda opens up about her double mastectomy
Lindaspoke candidly about her breast cancer diagnosis, revealing that her cancer returned after she had a double mastectomy. ‘A little over three years ago, I was diagnosed. The decision was very easy to make, to have a double mastectomy, but it came back,’ she says.
She also addressed the CoolSculpting treatment she underwent in 2015 which left her body ‘disfigured’ when she experienced a rare reaction to the procedure. ‘I wish we could just real see ourselves in the mirror non-distorted, without ever having see ourselves with a filter or a retouched. That is what has thrown me into this deep depression, it’s like a trap, trapped with yourself that you hate. It’s been years since I worked and years of hiding,' she says.
And she addressed the infamous $10,000 a day quote...
Most of us will be familiar with Linda's infamous quote: ‘I will not get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.' The phrase, first printed in an interview with Vogue, went on to become one of the most famous quotes in modelling history, with some even dubbing it the ‘let them eat cake’ of the 20th century.
In the documentary, Linda admits she doesn’t ‘want to be known’ for the quote. ‘I shouldn’t have said that, that quote makes me crazy. I don’t even know how to address it anymore,’ she says.
Christy posed topless for Patrick Demarchelier
Throughout the documentary, the supermodels open up about the realities of working on set as teenagers. Whille reflecting on her friendship with the late designer Azzedine Alaïa, Naomi spoke about a troubling interaction with an art director on set. ‘He felt the need to tell me my breasts were perfect, that he felt the need to have to touch them,’ she says.
On another occasion, Christy describes her experiences of working on a topless photo shoot with late fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier. After he took a portrait of Christy covering her breasts with her hands, she explains how she was persuaded to reveal her breasts on set. ‘Can you put your arms down a little bit lower, a little bit lower,’ she says she was told. ‘I remember being self-conscious, but I didn’t feel necessarily bad. I felt good from that shoot, I felt pretty in that moment. Patrick didn’t give me the creeps per se, but I do remember being like, ‘Oh my gosh, I shouldn’t be doing this.’ Later, she remembers the moment she saw the image on the cover of PHOTO magazine. ‘I don’t know what I thought it was for, but I definitely didn’t think it was for a cover of a magazine. I don’t think there was any age that you were supposed to be in order to have a nude picture. I don’t think there was anyone monitoring or regulating any of that,’ she says.
Naomi discusses her struggles with addiction
Following the death of Donatello Versace in 1997, Naomi explains her grief became ‘very bad’, continuing ‘I kept the sadness inside, I just dealt with it. I guess when I started using, that was one of the things I tried to cover up, was grief. Addiction is such a bullshit thing. It really is. You think it’s going to heal that wound. It doesn’t — it can cause such huge fear and anxiety. So I got really angry.’
What is The Super Models about?
The Super Models will showcase the four women’s incredible careers over the years, looking back on their meeting in the 80s, to their activism and business ventures today. In the press release, AppleTV+ referred to the project as the ‘ultimate story of power and how four women came together to claim it, paving the way for those to follow.’
With Cindy, Naomi, Linda and Christy on board, the docuseries will explore how the four women joined together to change perceptions of the modelling industry forever. With exclusive archive footage from behind the cameras and backstage at runways, The Super Models will show how they became household names – sometimes becoming more beloved than the brands they worked with.
Who is involved in The Super Models?
It is directed by Roger Ross Williams – who made history in 2010 by becoming the first African American director to win an Academy Award – and Larissa Bills.
Alongside the cast and crew of Imagine Documentaries and One Story Up, the supermodels were heavily involved in the process. In fact, all four are credited as executive producers.
With plenty of biopics and documentaries raising questions over ethics in recent years, it’s a refreshing twist to see those at the heart of the story given the platform to speak. Already excited to be able to tell what they call 'our story', all four of the modelling legends have taken to social media to share praise for the series.
When is The Super Models released?
The docuseries will launch on AppleTV+ on 20 September.
How can I watch The Super Models?
Given AppleTV+ is a paid streaming platform, you will need to have a subscription to be able to access the docuseries.
But, never fear! There are some ways around it that will allow you to get your The Super Models fix. If you’ve recently purchased a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch, you may just have three months of Apple TV+ for free – so it’s worth checking out your settings to see.
Is there a trailer for The Super Models?
The trailer for the docuseries was released on 6 September. You can watch it below.