In a dramatic promo video, Apple TV+ has revealed their latest docuseries by displaying brief flashes of footage showcasing some of the most famous models in the world. Christy Turlington appears, sitting patiently in a folding chair, in front of a plain grey background, looking serene. She is replaced with Naomi Campbell, who offers a quick smize. Next, there’s Cindy Crawford, who readies herself for interview, and finally, Linda Evangelista, whose face is revealed by the removal of a clapperboard. In the background, a voice asks, “what is a supermodel?” but the lightning quick trailer ends before we get a chance to see their response.
The series will track the careers of the four original supermodels, who were often grouped together with other models of the time (Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer, etc) and referred to simply as the “Big Five” or “Big Six”. As well as charting their own individual careers, the docuseries will also cover the models’ closeknit friendships and how their star power changed the world of fashion for good.
“It’s about our life and times together,” Naomi Campbell told British Vogue of the series, which is set for release on 20 September, “our friendship, careers, our womanhood, our motherhood. As models, we don’t have any rights to our image, so it feels good to be partners on our legacy – and in our own words.”
Campbell, 53, Crawford, 57, Turlington, 54, and Evangelista, 58, are also executive producers on the series, alongside one of the show’s two directors, Roger Ross Williams, who was the first African American director to win an Academy Award. His co-director, Larissa Bills, is an experienced documentary director with over 24 directing and producing credits to her name.
The series will also utilise exclusive footage from behind the scenes of the runway and the cameras, giving viewers literal backstage access to the thriving and hedonistic fashion world of the 1990s. When discussing the series with Vogue, Campbell hints that it will draw a comparison to the current fashion world, saying: “No matter how many outfit changes, how many shows, we never said we were tired. We all loved it and we kept each other’s energy up. We did eight shows a day and then we would go and celebrate with the designers in the evening. I wonder sometimes if models now could have kept up with us.”
No matter how many outfit changes, how many shows, we never said we were tired. We all loved it and we kept each other’s energy up
The series also comes a year after supermodel Linda Evangelista spoke out about her transformative plastic surgery experience, which she said “brutally disfigured” her face. “To my followers who have wondered why I have not been working while my peers' careers have been thriving, the reason is that I was brutally disfigured,” she said of her fat-reducing facial procedure in an Instagram post.
Evangelista explained how the process “increased, not decreased" the fat cells in her face, allegedly causing her to be “permanently deformed even after two painful, unsuccessful, corrective surgeries." It is unclear whether the new docuseries will touch upon Evangelista’s plastic surgery experience.
As for what it will focus on, an Apple TV+ statment has detailed: “As the fashion industry continues to redefine itself – and women’s roles within it – this is the ultimate story of power and how four women came together to claim it, paving the way for those to follow.
“Already forces in their own right, the gravitas they achieved by coming together transcended the industry itself. Their prestige was so extraordinary that it enabled the four to supersede the brands they showcased, making the names Naomi, Cindy, Linda, and Christy as prominent as the designers who styled them. Today, the four supermodels remain on the frontlines of culture through activism, philanthropy, and business prowess.”
