Elsa Benítez Yáñez (; born December 8, 1977) is a Mexican model and television presenter, perhaps best known for her appearances in the ''
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted c ...
'', including her appearance on the cover in 2001.
Career
Benítez became a model after winning a modeling contest in Costa Rica in 1995.
Her early opportunities were soon marching to local firms in Mexico and later in the United States where she earned more recognition and with it, her move to Europe. In 1996 she obtained one of her best chances when chosen to appear in one of the major fashion magazines: ''Vogue Italia'', once accepted, she was on the cover of the ''Journal'' for three consecutive months.
After being hired by Elite agency, she began appearing on the cover of many magazines like ''
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'', ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Glamour'', ''
Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle (abbreviated as ''Mlle'' or ''M'') may refer to:
* Mademoiselle (title), the French-language equivalent of the title "miss"
Film and television
* ''Mademoiselle'' (1966 film), a French-British drama directed by Tony Richardson
* '' ...
'', ''
Harper's Bazaar'' and ''
Marie Claire
''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on w ...
''. After appearing on the cover of ''Vogue'' from various countries such as Mexico, Greece, Germany, and ''Marie Claire'' in several numbers, Benítez received the offer that would launch success and worldwide recognition to any model: US magazine ''
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 twice ...
''.
After arriving in Europe, specifically in France and Italy, participating in fashion, presenting collections of top designers; starts on runways
prêt-à-porter
Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothin ...
becoming the muse of
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cos ...
Italian house for which she starred in their shows and marketing campaigns.
She also paraded on runways and/or campaigns for
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel i ...
,
Valentino,
Christian Lacroix
Christian Marie Marc Lacroix (; born 16 May 1951) is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded.
Lacroix's designs combine luxury and insouciance. He prefers artisanal trades, fringe, bead, and embroidery. He's ...
,
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 ...
,
Fendi
Fendi () is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925, Fendi is known for its fur, fur accessories, and leather goods ...
,
Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...
,
Pierre Balmain
Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain (; 18 May 1914 – 29 June 1982) was a French fashion designer and founder of leading post-war fashion house Balmain. Known for sophistication and elegance, he described the art of dressmaking as "the archite ...
,
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer.
He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 u ...
,
John Galliano
John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer from Gibraltar. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. Since 2014, Galliano has been the creat ...
,
Gianfranco Ferre
Gianfranco is a compound Italian given name, consisting of Gian- and Franco. ''Gian-'' comes from Giovanni and is used in compound names. It is closest to John or French Jean. Gianni means "God is gracious" and Franco means "Free man" or "Frenchman ...
,
MaxMara
Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business. It markets up-market ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). In March 2008, the company had 2,2 ...
,
Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo established a reputation in the 1930s. ...
,
Chloé
Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. During the next year of 1953 Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative ...
,
Escada
Escada SE is a luxury women's designer clothing company headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company is owned by Regent, L.P., an international private equity firm led by investor Michael Reinstein.
The company was founded in 1978 by designe ...
,
Emanuel Ungaro
Emanuel Ungaro (13 February 1933 – 21 December 2019) was a French fashion designer who founded the eponymous fashion house in 1965.
Early life
Ungaro's Italian father fled to France from Francavilla Fontana of Brindisi province because of th ...
,
Massimo Dutti
Massimo Dutti () is a Spanish fast fashion clothing retailer specializing in cashmere and wool products, established in 1985 and owned by Spanish multinational company Inditex.
Overview
Despite the Italian name, "Massimo Dutti" is not a fashio ...
and in the U.S. for
Carolina Herrera
Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño; 8 January 1939) is a Venezuelan-American fashion designer known for her personal style, and for dressing various First Ladies, including Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michelle ...
and
Oscar de la Renta
Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta ...
,
Anna Sui
Anna Sui (; born August 4, 1964) is an American fashion designer. She was named one of the "Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade", and in 2009 earned the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (C ...
, and
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 l ...
.
Benítez is perhaps the only model that has marched in Latin Couture during her stay in Paris. She marched for some of the most important fashion houses presenting Haute Couture, which have always been a few of the significant work involved in this fraction fashion, so Benítez walked for Chanel, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Pierre Balmain, Emanuel Ungaro and Versace.
She has worked for the houses
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
, Episode, INC,
J.Crew
J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dre ...
, Rena Lange,
Nine West
Nine West, also known as 9 West, is an American online fashion retailer which is based in White Plains, New York. It was founded in 1983 and closed its brick and mortar stores business in 2018. Its products continue to be sold at other retai ...
and
Jones New York
Authentic Brands Group LLC (ABG) is an American brand management company headquartered in New York City. Its holdings include various apparel, athletics, and entertainment brands, for which it partners with other companies to license and merchand ...
.
Benítez has also modeled for
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest r ...
.
Benítez appeared in the 1999
Pirelli
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyres ...
calendar showing women through the decades. She was photographed as representative of the "groovy" in the 1970s. In 2002, she appeared in the music video for "
Love to See You Cry
"Love to See You Cry" is the fourth single released from Spanish singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias' second English-language studio album, ''Escape''. The song was written by Iglesias, Mark Taylor, Paul Barry and Steve Torch, and produced by Ma ...
" by
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By th ...
.
From 2009 to 2012, Benítez presented ''
Mexico's Next Top Model
''Mexico's Next Top Model'', sometimes abbreviated as MxNTM, is a Mexican reality television series, based on Tyra Banks' ''America's Next Top Model''. It is the second franchise in Latin America after ''Brazil's Next Top Model'', and like the l ...
''.
Personal life
In 1999, Benítez married former basketball player
Rony Seikaly
Rony is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Ronielson da Silva Barbosa, Brazilian footballer better known as Rony
* Rony Ahonen (born 1987), Finnish ice hockey defenceman
*Rony Bakale (born 1987), Olympic swimmer from the Repub ...
.
In 2003, they had a daughter named Mila.
She divorced him in 2005.
She later had a romantic relationship for several months with Mexican businessman Roberto Slim.
In February 2007, Benítez started dating producer, Valerio Morabito.
Benítez currently resides in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
.
In the 2004 swimsuit issue of
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 twice ...
magazine, Elsa Benítez spoke about nearly boarding doomed
TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International A ...
on July 17, 1996: "I was scheduled to be on TWA Flight 800. I got to the airport and I just had a bad feeling. I started crying, and I couldn't stop. I called my husband and said, "I feel something is going to happen on the flight." He said, "Don't worry." I said, "No, something is going to happen." He told me to wait 10 minutes and if I still had the same feeling, I should change the ticket. I couldn't stop crying, so I bought a ticket for another flight and took off 10 minutes after that flight did. It made me appreciate so much that just being alive is a gift."
[Sports Illustrated magazine, Swimsuit Issue, 2004]
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benitez, Elsa
People from Hermosillo
1977 births
Living people
Mexican female models
Mexican television presenters
Mexican women television presenters