Chandra North

By Sara Templeton

Which country has the best models? I've often been amazed at the amount of talent that comes from Brazil, but Europe too is home to a plethora of stunningly attractive cat walkers.

Australia? Well, of course I'd have to say we offer the best models, but then I'm bias, because I live here.

Asia is becoming a more dominant player in the fashion industry, both in terms of models and designers, and central America is benefitting from Worldwide interest in the 'Latino' look.

But what of North America? It is a huge country and, according to the CIA, has a population of about 298 million, which makes it the third largest in the world, behind China and India.

So why don't we see more models from the States? The simple answer to that question - well, there is no simple answer. Sorry to get your hopes up...

However, one such model from North America is Chandra North, a 30 something top model who hails from George W. Bush's home state of Texas and has represented a number of fashion labels during her career.

Born in 1973, Chandra had one aspiration when growing up in Dallas - ballet. Like many a young girl's dream, Chandra wanted to be a ballerina. Every spare moment in her young life was devoted to ballet, such was her determination.

The story of how she started a career as a professional model is somewhat intertwined with her desire to to be a ballerina.

It all started when she was on "summer vacation" sun bathing near the swimming pool at Southern Methodist University when another model approached her.

In essence, he believed she had what it takes to be a top model and talked her into modelling. He even helped her off to a good start by getting her stints in newspapers ads and department-store catalogs. But why would a male model go to such efforts to help a complete stranger? Let's give Mr. Anonymous the benefit of the doubt and presume he did it out of the goodness of his heart. But Chandra was still convinced her calling was ballet, and continued achieve this goal.

So, in 1991 an 18-year old Chandra moved to the big smoke - New York, New York. Yes indeed, she headed east to the Big Apple, arguably America's fashion capital, in search of fame and fortune not as a cat walker, but as a professional ballet dancer.

During this time, trying to get accepted into the New York City Ballet troupe, Chandra was still modeling part-time to pay her way and give her something to do other than stare blankly at the sky in a trance-like daze. During this part-time modelling stint she was offered a modeling gig in Paris and, as much as we'd like to say "And the rest is history," it wasn't.

She took off to the Euro-chic city of Paris in search of fame and fortune, but instead she got poked in the eye with a blunt stick, so to speak. Disgruntled with the lack of work for her in Europe, she returned to the US with a heavy heart and an empty purse.

But things changed instantly when she arrived back in America. She met her future husband, who at the time was a bike courier. He persuaded her to get back into modeling, encouraging her to go against the grain. With a new love and a new attitude, Chandra hit the big time in 1995, returning to a more accepting Paris, where she did the cat walk thing for Isaac Mizrahi and Richard Tyler.

After this, North's name was on the lips of many modeling agencies and a year later, in 1996, she scored her first gig in the Swimsuit Edition of the Sports Illustrated magazine with a massive two-page spread.

Wearing a bikini made from grass, the 1996 shoot saw her rise to prominence, and she's since been in four other Swimsuit issues. Knowing that each model gets paid big bux for these shoots, one can only imagine what a five-time pinup girl earns...

Having since paved her way in the fashion world, having modeled for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Allure magazines, Chandra North is one of America's favourite top models - proof that the USA can play ball (if you'll excuse the analogy) with the Brazilians and the Italians.

In future she wishes to own a Texas ranch, y'all, and raise a family there and do the agricultural thing, which is a really romantic dream, and one I can relate to. At present she is still actively modeling, represented by Storm Models, and lives in upstate New York with her husband, Daniel, and her son Hayden. Chandra North is sailing on the winds of celebrity and despite being on the wrong side of thirty, proves that beauty doesn't always have to coincide with youth.