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Frankie Rayder

By Sara Templeton

When I think about the name Frankie Rayder, images of Flash Gordon taking on an alien race in a game of intergalactic Gridiron take shape in my mind.

Quite surprisingly though, this is not the case.

Despite her 'go-get-em' name, Frankie is actually an incredibly attractive fashion model who, even after appearing in Ben Stiller's Zoolander movie in 2001, has no aspirations to enter the mainstream via a Hollywood career, proving that not all models have egos the size of Texas. 

Who would have thought?

Born Francesca Rayder on the 26th of January, 1975, she grew up in the town River Falls in Wisconsin and never had dreams to become a model or even an astronaut, for that matter.

Though her early childhood isn't well documented, it is known that as a teenager Frankie was spotted in the big city of Minneapolis by a scout who suggested that she could go a long way in the fashion industry.

Intrigued by the proposal, and no doubt flattered, Frankie decided to give modeling a go. Heck, I know I would, but then that wouldn't happen because I'm not tall enough and I have a nervous twitch. But that's besides the point, as things really started to happen when Francesca was introduced to photography guru Steven Meisel, who went absolutely troppo for Frankie's look.

Meisel was floored by Frankie's natural look and her glamorous curves and decided he just had to do a shoot with her, and following the pair's first photo session, the piccies ended up on the cover of Italian Glamour, and marked Frankie's first major gig in the industry. Not bad for a first major shoot, that. 

After her face was seen on the glossy pages of the Italian magazine, Frankie was a model in high demand and was soon travelling all over the globe to fulfil her modeling contracts.

Since her meeting with Meisel, the 179cm tall model has appeared on the pages of magazines like The Face, Elle, Allure, Harper's Bazaar and also the Spanish, American, German, French, British and Italian editions of Vogue, plus she was a also a feature model in the big budget 2004 Pirelli calendar.

During her modeling journey from nobody to somebody, Frankie also bumped into British babe Kate Moss, and is said that the two are very good friends, no doubt bonding over their shared love of Connect Four. It's a great game.

The big bucks came Frankie's way thanks to advertising contracts with the biggest names in fashion, such as DKNY, Gap, Victoria's Secret, Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Chanel, D&G, Lagerfeld, Valentino, Givenchy and Versace, and many of these fashion houses also signed her to do runway work modeling their wares at the world's most prestigious fashion festivals. 

She has also appeared in the 2005 and 2006 annual editions of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues which, while containing very little fashion-related or artistic merit, is one of the more lucrative contracts floating around in the fashion world.

Frankie Rayder is more than just a gorgeous model, she's also widely recognised for her positive attitude and friendly demeanour - something many models sorely lack in today's multi-million dollar "yes ma'am" fashion industry. She has realistic values, and comes across as far less superficial than most celebrities, and once was quoted as saying, "It puts things into perspective when we realise that people can live without the luxuries we grow accustomed to having."

Being an artistic and highly creative type, Frankie naturally gravitated towards artists, and was engaged and then married a bloke simply called Flea, who some may already be aware of. He's the bass player for Californian band The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Frankie and Flea created a baby girl who was born on October the 26th, 2005, and she was named Sunny Bebop Balzary. I've been told by the Editor not to make comment on the name of the child for fear of litigation...

Whatever Frankie does in her life, you can almost guarantee that she'll do it with a smile and though she won't admit it, she's one of the more well adjusted role models to shake her finely sculpted booty on the catwalk. And even her younger sister Missy is a part of the fashion scene - but that's another yarn for another day...

Photographer: Unknown Photographer: Unknown