Supermodel: Karen Graham

Francesco Scavullo, Dec 1975

The letter, 1976

The Russian dolls, 1977

Her signature nose, 1980

I think my first ever supermodel crush was Karen Graham of the classic Estee Lauder ads. Ms Graham (born 1945, Mississippi) remains a model's model. For 15 years, she was the face of Estee Lauder, and I grew up staring at her face in those iconic ads in Vogue. She studied French at the Sorbonne in Paris, and later moved to New York City to be a French teacher. In 1969, while at the Bonwit Teller, she met the mother of all modeling agents, Eileen Ford, and the rest became modelling history. Ms Graham's early work included a shoot for Irving Penn; Her first appearance in Vogue was in 1970, and she became a supermodel when Grace Mirabella, then Vogue editor put her on the magazine's cover 20 times between 1970 and 1975. Her status as a legendary model was set, however, with the Estee Lauder ads. Beginning intermittently in 1970 and 1971, to appear in their print ads, she started working with photographer Victor Skrebneski. In 1973, she became Estee Lauder's exclusive spokesmodel. It was a job she would do for the rest of the decade, appearing in print and television ads that presented her in tasteful, luxurious, all-American tableaux - to represent the high WASP image the Estee Lauder was creating.
Graham quit in 1985, when she turned 40, and was succeeded by Willow Bay (thought to be a look-alike). In 1999, she returned to model for Estee Lauder (Resilience Lift), and this lasted for a few years; Victor Skrebneski returned to shoot the ads after leaving in 1993.

Ms Graham now lives in the foothills of North Carolina. In addition to fly fishing, she is keen on horseback riding.