Christy Turlington, 50, closes Marc Jacobs's show at New York Fashion Week
14 February, 2019
In a move that may be the coup of the decade, designer Marc Jacobs managed to to lure original supermodel Christy Turlington Burns out of retirement for his latest show.
Turlington Burns walked away from modelling in the 1990s, despite being one of the most famous women in the world at the time.
As one of the original supermodels - the term itself was invented to describe Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista - Turlington Burns dominated the modelling industry, commanding huge fees for heading up campaigns.
At the time it was said of the women that they "would not get out of bed for anything less that $10,000”.
Then in 1994, Turlington Burns turned her back on it all and simply walked away.
Such was the power of these "supers", that to honour her slain brother, Gianni, at the spring / summer 2018 Versace show, Donatella Versace reunited the favourites on the runway, in a moment that reduced much of the audience to tears. Yet even for that, Turlington Burns was noticeable in her absence.
However, that all changed last night, when she closed the Marc Jacobs show at New York Fashion Week, dressed in glistening dark feathers, like a black swan.
To explain her change of heart, Turlington Burns took to Instagram after the show.
"About tonight! OMG @themarcjacobs invited me to close his beautiful show tonight and I couldn’t resist," she explains, going on to say: "A. I have known and loved this man since I met him at age 16. B. I turned 50 this year and have arrived at a place where 'why ... not' is the answer that comes up when I ask myself questions. C. I have a 15-year-old daughter who I desperately want to see and hear me, and this is a medium that 'speaks' to her.”
Turlington Burns then went on to thank many of the people who appeared in the show, including Kaia Gerber, the 17-year-old daughter of fellow super Cindy Crawford.
"So, thank yous are in order, @karliekloss, @gigihadid and @kaiagerber and all the lovely young women I have met briefly in the recent past or met tonight. You are ALL women I would want my daughter to emulate in your grace, confidence and elegance."
Wearing a headpiece by Stephen Jones and in a show styled by Jacobs’s longtime collaborator, Katie Grand, Turlington Burns looked as beautiful as ever, on a runway that was undoubtedly Jacobs's best in many years.
Precise and contained, yet artfully thought out, the collection played with volume and romance, and carried the audience through the 1940s by way of 18th-century Vienna.