11 Beautiful Models Who Have Lost Work Because of Their Appearance

Some people might think that there are no doubts about beauty when we talk about the most popular models in the world. After all, their appearance is a set standard for many. However, some facts at the beginning of their careers in the world of high fashion show that this was not always the case.

There was a time when the biggest fashion agencies and famous photographers wanted to ‘fix’ many things in the appearance of today’s most important women, bringing them up to industry standards. But success was achieved by those who didn’t want to change to suit the clichés, and created new rules: be yourself, have a particularity, charisma and an enormous dedication to work.

O awesome.club was very inspired by these stories because they show that the world is constantly changing, and those who change it are people who are not afraid to stray from the norm.

The career of Heidi Klum, one of the most famous “angels” of “Victoria’s Secret”, began in her native Germany: she won a beauty pageant, beating 250,000 applicants. Inspired by her success, the young woman traveled to conquer Paris. But fashion agents told her that large busts were not in fashion and that her overall figure was not suitable for the runway.

More or less the same thing he was told in the United States, where he went next. One failure after another, and even the first magazine photo shoot was disappointing: your face was glued to another girl’s body🇧🇷 But the young German’s stubbornness led her to her goal: working for Victoria’s Secret.

When young Gigi decided to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Yolanda Hadid, and become a model, she suddenly found that her parameters were not suitable for the profession. Her shoulders were too broad for being a professional volleyball player.🇧🇷 All the agents told him: “lose weight!” And the criticism didn’t stop even when she finally made it onto the catwalk. “She looks bad”, “she’s fat”: that was the mildest thing Gigi had to hear.

Her friend Naomi Campbell taught her how to model, and thanks to that Gigi was able to fulfill her dream: although it was on the third attempt, she became an “angel” for Victoria’s Secret. “I can tell you about myself: I’m hardworking, I have confidence in myself and I was in the right place at the right time when the fashion industry was ready for a change,” says Gigi.

Today, Tyra Banks is a successful model and one of the creators of the project America’s Next Top Modela television program that has been awarded on more than one occasion for its courageous judgments and tolerance, and for being a real influence in the social sphere.

She became the first angel African American in the Victoria’s Secret catalog and, during her career, managed to work with almost every well-known brand. But Tyra has repeatedly stressed that she heard the word “no” throughout her career constantly, due to her skin color and body parameters, which sometimes did not reach the ideals of models.

“During a trip through Europe, I confessed to my mother that agents rejected me because of my weight. She wiped the tears from my face and, in protest, we went to a pizzeria and ordered a large pizza,” said Tyra.

At the age of 16, Alyona was invited to participate in the casting at Kazakhstan Fashion Week, just because she was noticed on the street. However, the opinion of fashion experts differed from the opinion of agents looking for talent: Alyona’s appearance was unanimously considered unsuitable for fashion, and she did not pass the test.

But when sending your book for Asian agencies, Alyona received a good response and started a successful career in Singapore, Tokyo and later Europe. She landed many notable contracts: opening a Givenchy show, shows for Fendi, Thierry Mugler, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and photo shoots for famous magazines.

Laetitia got her first contract at the age of 15, after a famous photographer saw her on the beach and invited her to a casting. At the age of 18, she was already the main model of Victoria’s Secret, and then worked with the most famous fashion houses: Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Givenchy and Ralph Lauren. But even so, the famous model remembers that her appearance did not save her from the comments. Most of the time, photographers would like her to fix her uneven teeth, and the stylists felt that she was not tall enough (1.69 m), that her breasts were too big (size 44), and that her weight could be lower (57 kg).

Laetitia decided to continue being herself. “I like my crooked teeth!” “I just love burgers and pizza and most of all chocolate!” She wanted to enjoy life and she never hid it.

Naomi is called the first African-American model, and it was she who had to face racial discrimination against black people, which was still going strong in the 60s.

All his attempts to get into fashion agencies ended in failure: the young woman was rejected because of her skin color🇧🇷 So Naomi ventured to go directly to famous photographers and got lucky: Gösta Peterson agreed to portray her for the cover of New York Times🇧🇷 The beauty of the girl did not go unnoticed, the picture was a huge breakthrough for her career. Then followed the covers of Life, Ladies’ Home Journal and recognition in the fashion world.

At the beginning of her career, the Dutch model Lara Stone had to face very unpleasant statements from fashion critics. She was called an atypical android with ugly teeth and a strange way of walking.

Refusal from castings haunted her for several years before she began to be positively noticed. Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci is considered to be the one who became her guide to true success. He invited the young model not only to participate in a Givenchy show, but to open it. It was after this event that Lara started working with Miu Miu, Prada, Lanvin, Marc Jacobs and Chanel.

Cindy Crawford’s path to high fashion began in a rather curious way. She harvested corn to help her family earn money, and her picture appeared in an article about agricultural success. The picture was seen by the famous photographer Victor Skrebneski, who persuaded the girl to try her hand at starting a modeling career. She had to learn a lot and listen to unflattering reviews, but she managed to sign a contract with vogue and the Cosmopolitan🇧🇷

Everyone has heard this story a thousand times, but even so, let’s remember that her characteristic mole near her lip was considered disgusting, was retouched in photos and was always asked to have it removed. As we already know, Cindy managed to defend her mole, and the small dot has become a definitive symbol in the world of fashion.

The Afro-American origin of model Diandra Forrest is revealed by her large facial features, because her skin is very white: the young woman was born with albinism. She has spoken in numerous interviews about how difficult it is to live with this physical trait.

His career began with a session by photographer Shamir Khan, known for destroying stereotypes. Her unusual beauty initially generated distrust among stylists. Everyone thought that this rarity could become a real success, but he was constantly denied work. But in the end, the young woman managed to shake up the already established fashion world and emerged with great force.

Unusual full lips and a gap between the teeth: the fashion world was not prepared for these peculiar features. The image was considered complex and incomprehensible, and the beginning model did not sign any contracts.

It was photographer Steven Meisel who helped Lindsey convert her “bee-stung mouth” into her distinguishing feature. He invited her to a photo shoot for the vogue and published the image of her lips. The photographer’s name, unusual design and presentation could not fail to catch the eye, and the wall of misunderstanding collapsed.

Although Gisele Bündchen has already ended her career, she is still in first place in the ranking of the highest paid models in the world. Today it is difficult to imagine that, at the beginning of her career, this gaucho was called a talentless girl, with a very big nose🇧🇷 Incidentally, this part of the body was the one that caused her the most problems, because with the phrase “it’s too big” she was denied more than 40 jobs.

But the model decided that dedication and energy are more important than ideal beauty and that it wouldn’t be so easy to lead her astray. The impetus for high fashion was the photo session with Patrick Demarchelier. The photographer remembers that he saw something special in Gisele, even though his colleagues suggested not to choose her.

Which of our protagonists do you like the most?