Irene Marie (born August 22, 1950 in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

) is an American businesswoman and former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

. Founder of the eponymous South Beach

model agency A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and/or the head agency. The top agencies work with bi ...

Irene Marie Models Irene Marie Models was a modeling and talent agency in Miami Beach, Florida. The agency was one of South Florida's first exclusive agencies. The agency closed in 2009. History Irene Marie Models was founded in 1983 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ...

. Marie and her agency were the subject of the MTV series

8th & Ocean ''8th & Ocean'' is an American reality series about a group of models living in Miami, Florida that premiered on MTV on March 7, 2006. The series aired for ten episodes, ending its run on May 9, 2006. The creators of ''8th & Ocean'' are also respo ...

. Marie is referred to as The Grand Dame of Modeling. Marie is the former chair of the Dade Film and Print Advisory Board and has served as a modeling industry expert on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

City Models

In 1974, Irene met her future husband, Patrick Marie, while on vacation in Miami Beach. Soon after, Patrick introduced Irene to his cousin; the owner of Paris-based City Models. City Models was seeking to place a group of their models in Miami, and requested Irene's assistance in finding a suitable agency. City Models was dissatisfied with the regional scope of the agencies in Miami, and proposed to Marie to open a branch of City Models in Florida. In 1980, City Models Florida opened in Ft. Lauderdale as one of the first exclusive model and talent agency in South Florida.

Irene Marie Models

For the first time a Florida agency was taking an international perspective to the fashion industry. Marie's contacts in Europe allowed her to persuade foreign photographers and designers to produce their campaigns in Florida, from Palm Beach to the

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

oasis of Miami Beach. In 1983 the name of the agency was changed to

and by 1988 had outgrown its location in Ft. Lauderdale. In 1989 Marie decided to move her agency South to

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

to meet her client's demand for the golden light, inexpensive hotels, and undiscovered scenery. She moved her agency to the former Sunray Apartments (made famous by the chainsaw scene in the movie

Scarface (1983 film) ''Scarface'' is a 1983 American crime film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone. Loosely based on the Scarface (novel), 1929 novel of the same name and serving as a loose remake of the Scarface (1932 film), 1932 film, it tells ...

) located at 728 Ocean Drive. The agency continued to grow during the early 1990s with the discovery and development of talent such as

Niki Taylor Nicole Renee Taylor (born March 5, 1975) is an American supermodel and television hostess. Early life Taylor was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Ken and Barbara Taylor, a highway patrol lieutenant and a photographer, respectively. She was ra ...

(

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, sk ...

, ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'',

CoverGirl CoverGirl is an American cosmetics brand founded in Maryland, United States, by the Noxzema Chemical Company. It was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1989 and later acquired by Coty, Inc. in 2016. The Noxell Company advertised this cosmetics li ...

Amber Smith Amber Smith is an American actress and former model. Early life Amber Smith is the daughter of Carol Smith. During her 2008 and 2009 appearances on the reality television programs in which she sought treatment by Dr. Drew Pinsky for addiction, s ...

(

Wonder Bra The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire bra, underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1955, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses (Moe) Nadler, fou ...

, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''), Michael Ostheim ( Esprit,

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

), and Britt Bradford (

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as w ...

). In 1993 Marie opened agency branches in Atlanta, Tampa and was the first Florida based modeling agency to ever open in New York. During this period Irene represented the top models in the business including

Marcus Schenkenberg Marcus Lodewijk Schenkenberg van Mierop (born 4 August 1968), known professionally as Marcus Schenkenberg, is a Swedish people, Swedish model, actor, singer, writer, and television personality. Early life Schenkenberg was born in Stockholm to ...

Kimora Lee Kimora Lee Simmons (née Perkins) is an American model, business woman, fashion designer, venture capitalist, entrepreneur, TV personality, philanthropist and author. Early life Kimora Lee Perkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri.Stephen M. ...

Beverly Peele Beverly Peele (born March 18, 1975) is an American model and actress. Peele rose to fame in the late 1980s and 1990s, as a supermodel, working with Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and many others, appearing mostly in ''Mademoiselle'' and ''Elle'' ...

and

Anna Nicole Smith Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 ...

. In 1997 Marie became a founding mentor for the Women of Tomorrow Mentor and Scholarship Program, an organization established by

Jennifer Valoppi Jennifer Valoppi is an American television journalist, producer and author known for her work on WTVJ. Early life and education Raised in Allen Park, Michigan, Valoppi graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Oakland Univers ...

aimed at motivating at-risk young women to live up to their full potential through mentoring. Over the next decade, Marie continued to discover and develop talent including

Cindy Taylor Cindy may refer to: People *Cindy (given name), a list of people named Cindy, Cindi, Cyndi or Cyndy *Tugiyati Cindy (born 1985), Indonesian footballer Music * ''Cindy'' (musical), an off-Broadway production in 1964 and 1965 * "Cindy" (folk song ...

Galen Gering Galen Laius Gering (born February 13, 1971) is an American actor most known for his portrayal of characters on daytime soap operas. He currently plays the role of Rafe Hernandez on the long-running NBC soap opera '' Days of Our Lives.'' He also ...

and

David Fumero David Fumero (born Joseph Sentielo-Fumero on December 29, 1972) is a Cuban-American actor and former fashion model. Fumero is best known for his role as Cristian Vega on ''One Life to Live''. Personal life David Fumero was born on December 29, ...

. In 2006, Marie along with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

launched the hit reality television series ''

'' which chronicled the lives of 10 models and their relationship with Marie and her staff. In 2007 Marie received the key to the City of Miami Beach in recognition of her cultural and commercial contribution to the development of the city. The city's proclamation declared July 11 Irene Marie Day in the City of Miami Beach. In 2008, Irene's agency was given a similar distinction with December 13 being proclaimed Irene Marie Models Day. The agency closed in 2009 due to the effects of the worldwide economic recession.

Television appearances

External links

official website
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marie, Irene 1950 births American fashion businesspeople American female models Living people 21st-century American women