Kristen McMenamy

Kristen McMenamy (born December 13, 1964) is an American supermodel known for her unconventional, androgynous appearance. Originally a long-haired redhead, she reinvented her look in the early 1990s by having her hair cut short and dyed black, and her eyebrows shaved off. Her career was boosted by the advent of the grunge fashion trend.

Early life

McMenamy was born in Easton, Pennsylvania and also spent some time in her youth in Buffalo, New York. She was the third of seven children in an Irish-American Catholic family.

McMenamy attended Notre Dame High School in Easton, where she received excellent grades, but was often teased by her classmates, who called her "Skeleton" due to her lanky body. While in college, she decided to drop out of school to pursue a career in modeling.

After heading to New York City, she was rejected by various modeling agencies. She nonetheless continued following her dream to model. She later recounted, "I got rejected by everyone. But I was obsessed! It was the only thing I wanted to do and I wanted it so badly. I was like a bulldog, hanging on by my teeth."

Career

1984–1998

Upon meeting the modeling agent Eileen Ford, McMenamy was told to consider getting plastic surgery. Despite that, she managed to get signed by an agency that sent her to work in Paris. A few years later, she was signed by Elite Model Management, and subsequently by Ford Models. McMenamy's modeling career mainly spanned the years 1985 to 1998, when she worked for many of the world's top designers and international fashion houses, such as Versace, Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Todd Oldham, Christian Dior, Sonia Rykiel, Dolce & Gabbana, Jean Paul Gaultier, Gianfranco Ferré, Lanvin, Isaac Mizrahi, Yohji Yamamoto, Thierry Mugler, Comme des Garçons, Chloé, and Moschino.

During the early stage of her modeling career, McMenamy met two of the men who would become instrumental in her success as a model: photographer Peter Lindbergh, with whom she worked extensively, and Chanel head designer Karl Lagerfeld, to whom she became a muse. One of her first fashion campaigns was for Chanel's spring/summer 1985 haute couture collection. That same year, she was photographed by Lindbergh for a Jil Sander ad campaign, and she also starred in an ad campaign for the Byblos fashion house. In 1986, she was featured in the book ''A Day in the Life of America'', photographed by Sante D'Orazio, and also appeared in advertisements for Gerard Darel and Alberta Ferretti.

She has also worked with many other fashion photographers, including Albert Watson, Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Ellen von Unwerth, Arthur Elgort, Paolo Roversi, Patrick Demarchelier, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Tim Walker, David Sims, Max Vadukul, and Juergen Teller. She became a muse to Teller, who has described her as "the best model I have ever worked with".

In 1991, McMenamy starred in the ad campaign for Claude Montana's spring/summer collection, and was paired with model Claudia Mason for Fendi's fall/winter ad campaign. It has been said of McMenamy that "At the time of supermodels, she was the first eccentric and unusual beauty to fight her way through a host of classically beautiful women, thus appearing on the covers of '' Vogue'' and on other famous magazines." Some of the other magazines that she has been featured in are ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vanity Fair'', '' People'', '' Interview'', '' Elle'', '' V'', '' Dazed & Confused'', '' LOVE'', ''i-D'', ''The Face'', '' W'', '' Women's Wear Daily'', and '' Newsweek''.

McMenamy was known for having an over-the-top manner of walking on the catwalk, and was likened to "a vamp, stopping to strike exaggerated poses". In 1992, after having her long red hair cut short and dyed black, makeup artist François Nars shaved off her eyebrows for Anna Sui's fall/winter fashion show, thereby "ushering in the era of grunge".
The transformation of McMenamy's look made her famous, and her career took off. From that point on, her image became associated with androgyny, and she was also considered a gamine.

In October 1992, she opened the Versace spring/summer 1993 womenswear fashion show, and she later appeared in the ad campaign for that collection, photographed by Avedon. In December 1992, she starred in a grunge photo spread for ''Vogue'' titled "Grunge & Glory", photographed by Meisel. ''Harper's Bazaar'' named her "Model of the Year" in January 1993. The following month, she had six red ribbons painted on her back, for an amfAR benefit event that she co-hosted with Leanza Cornett. McMenamy also fronted advertisements for Calvin Klein that year.

In October 1994, she was one several models on the cover of '' Vogue Italias 30th anniversary issue. The following year, she closed the Versace spring/summer Haute couture show wearing a bridal gown. She then starred in the ad campaign for that collection along with model