Tyra Lynne Banks was one of the most important supermodels of the 90s. Many readers will know her for being the first black Victoria's Secret model, but the truth is that she broke the mold in a fashion industry in which she was so loved. as hated
Born on December 4, 1973 in Inglewood (Los Angeles, California), the top actress and actress studied at a private, Catholic school, just for girls, where she suffered all kinds of ridicule and her classmates made her feel like an ugly duckling. Her dream was to dedicate herself to fashion. She took several tests as a teenager but didn't catch the attention of the agencies.
Until finally, at the age of 16, Elite Model Management, one of the most important representation companies of the moment, noticed her. "A representative saw photographs of me and said I was the only girl she wanted to take to Paris. I didn't leave thinking I would become an important model. I just wanted to earn money for university," she said in an interview.
Banks didn't think about it for a minute and packed her bags to move to the French capital. There he did several castings to show at Fashion Week. She did it with Yves Saint Laurent, who included her in his presentation of the spring-summer 1992 collection that was shown in October 1991.
From that moment on, she worked with prestigious brands such as Dior, Chanel and Givenchy, but the work that marked a before and after in her career was the cover she starred in for Sports Illustrated in 1997. Banks became the first black model to appear in the swimsuit edition of the masthead.
Also that same year she signed with Victoria's Secret and was named the first black angel of the lingerie brand, with whom she worked until 2005. She was the second lucky model to wear the Fantasy Bra. The same year as her debut, she appeared in the parade with the Diamond Dream Bra model valued at three million dollars and with more than 100 diamonds and a 42-carat diamond as the central element.
Seven years later, she had the privilege of wearing the Heavenly 70 Fantasy Bra, valued at ten million dollars and with 2,900 diamonds in 18-karat white gold and with a larger 70-carat diamond.
Despite her success and her rivalry with Naomi Campbell, the model decided to retire from fashion at only 32 years old. She claimed that she did it because up to eight designers did not want to work with her in Milan because she had "too many curves." As she stated, she "had three more years on her contract, but she wanted to quit before they kicked me out."
After her retirement, she created the television contest America's Next Top Model and graduated from Harvard University. She has also done specific work in fashion such as her campaign for Skims and did not hesitate to repeat her cover for Sports Illustrated, 22 years later and with 11 extra kilos with which she claimed diversity in the industry.
