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Claudia Schiffer

By Sara Templeton

At age 36 this year (2006), Claudia Schiffer is one of the more enduring visages from the modern modeling scene. Sure, she's not as active in front of a camera lens as she used to be, but marriage will do that to a girl - you gotta get your priorities straight.

During her hey-day, Claudia was the it girl - and we're not talking computers here... She was arguably one of the most recognisable faces in the early-to-mid 1990s. She was numero uno in Europe, the Americas and even in Asia she was widely recognised.

And how's this: Claudia Schiffer holds the record for the top model with the highest number of magazine covers. Yep, the German babe has been featured on more than 900 magazine covers.

Interestingly, not long after she was first discovered, many people thought she'd never be more than catalogue queen, as outlined by Aline Soulier's memories of Claudia's first shoot. But despite this, her raw beauty shone through and she will forever be remember as the 90s it girl.

Claudia was born on August 25, 1970, outside of Dusseldorf, in Rheinberg, Germany, but her good fortune occurred in late 80s - a time of greed, big frizzy hair and seriously loony clothing.

It all started in the year of 1987, in October to be precise, which was the year that Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias Sanchez, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Central America. While still studying for school - she wanted to be a lawyer - in her home town of Dusseldorf, Ms Schiffer decided to head out to a discotheque for an evening of boogie.

That same night, Michel Levaton, the director of the Metropolitan Model Agency, was at the same club, only he was weary of work. For a number of weeks, the big Metro chief had been on a search for beautiful women to sign up to his modeling agency. Having had no luck during this time, he wasn't a happy puppy...

Until he saw Claudia getting funky on the dance floor. He went up to her, gave her his business card and asked her if she wanted to get into the fashion industry.

"She thought I was trying to pick her up!'' recalls Levaton.

The next day, Claudia agreed to meet up with Michel Levaton -- she brought her mother along too, who insisted that the young Claudia finish her schooling first.

A few months later Claudia flew to Paris for photo test, with photographer Marie-Francoise Prybys. Michel Levaton and Aline Souliers - her new agent - teamed up to show Claudia the ropes, so to speak. As Souliers recounts: "People thought she looked babyish, too chubby. They'd say, 'She'll never be more than a catalog queen!'"

Now under a lot of pressure after a few underwhelming introductions, Metropolitan Model Agency big wigs Souliers and Levaton took Ms Schiffer to see Odile Sarron - the casting director at Elle magazine. If she likes you - you're in. If not - you're out.

Anyway, Odile Sarron met Claudia and her reaction was good. In fact, Sarron was more than just impressed with Claudia, and really, this was where the German supermodel's career really took off.

''She booked her right away for the following week - a rare feat for a beginner. Odile has always been ahead of the game. She's got a good eye," Levaton said.

Just a few weeks later and Claudia appears in Elle and Levaton signs her up as a Metropolitan Model. The following weeks, months and years were a series of successes for the German-born model.

After her first Elle appearance, she did another five magazine covers - across her career, in total, she's featured on the covers of more than 500 magazine issues, including the aforementioned Elle, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Vanity Fair.

She's also appeared on the front cover of Time Magazine and was the first ever model to be splashed across the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine's 10 Most Beautiful Women issue.

Furthermore, she was also named as one of People Magazine's 23, sorry, 25 Most Beautiful People. She's also worked for companies such as L'Oreal, Guess! and Chanel.

At one stage in her career, Souliers had concerns that the Metropolitan Model Agency's number one model didn't have the right 'look' to get a gig with Chanel. But when Claudia was introduced to the well-known Karl Lagerfeld, who headed up new designs, Karl saw greatness, just as Odile Sarron did.

She's worked with Versace, Valentino and Ralph Lauren among others. Other credits include when Claudia hosted the World Music Awards with Luke Perry in Monte Carlo in the year of 1995. And in my personal opinion, Claudia proves that the eyes have it, because her teeth are kind of bucky.

Her swimsuit calendar is always a big seller, plus she's had two books published, one of which is Memories, a black and white pictorial, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. She's got fitness videos, co-produced with her personal trainer, Kathy Kaehler, entitled Claudia Schiffer's Perfectly Fit. Sounds nice, but I've not seen them, so that's all I can say.

Currently residing in Monaco, Claudia leads a no-less hectic life in the new millennium than what she did in the last, only now we don't quite see as much of her, which is a bit of shame really. As one of the founders of the hip and happening Fashion Cafe, co-created with Elle MacPherson, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell, Schiffer is also quite the budding businesswoman.

As one of the world's most successful models, Claudia Schiffer will be long remembered for her stunning timeless visage, and has two children with husband Matthew Vaughn, a movie producer. Their eldest, Caspar, was born on the 30th of January in 2003 and daughter Clementine was born on the 11th of November in 2004 and they all reside in London.