Kristen McMenamy

Kristen McMenamy (born December 13, 1964) is an American model known for her unconventional, androgynous appearance.

McMenamy's modeling career mainly spanned the years 1985 to 1998, when she worked for several of the world's top designers and international fashion houses, including 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 beginning of her modeling career, McMenamy met photographer Peter Lindbergh, with whom she worked extensively, and Chanel head designer Karl Lagerfeld, who helped mentor her.

One of her first fashion campaigns was for Chanel's Spring/Summer 1985 haute couture collection.

The 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 worked with several 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.

Teller described her as "the best model I have ever worked with".

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.

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 reportedly 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.

Following high school, McMenamy moved from Easton to New York City to pursue a career as a model.

She was initially rejected by various agencies.

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 Italia's 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 Nadja Auermann and Elton John, photographed by Avedon.

McMenamy and John later appeared together on the cover of the April 1995 issue of Interview.

That same month, she was on the cover of Vogue.

She was also featured in a chapter of the 1995 book The Beauty Trip.

The following year, McMenamy was the star of an Absolut Vodka fashion campaign that was photographed by Newton in Sweden.

Also in 1996, she posed nude with the word "Versace" written on her breasts and buttocks for a series of pictures that were photographed by Teller, which were published in the German magazine Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin.

In 2012, she 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."

She met modeling agent Eileen Ford, who advised her to get plastic surgery.

Despite not undergoing plastic surgery, she was signed by a modeling agency that sent her to work in Paris.

A few years later, she was signed by Elite Model Management, and subsequently by Ford Models.