Why Cara Delevingne Is the Only Truly Modern Supermodel
Photo: Matt Irwin? Matt Irwin/New York Magazine
Depending on the way you Google Cara Delevingne, you might wind up with striking, glamorous fashion photos of her walking in the
Burberry show, or moping around in Saint Laurent ads. But include the terms “Instagram” or “selfie” or “paparazzi” in your search, and you’ll get images of her topless in the Mexican surf, making out with Michelle Rodriguez, or posing outside a fashion show cross-eyed with a finger-gun to her head. Delevingne, 21, who began walking runways in 2010, has become arguably the most famous new face in fashion. But she’s an entirely new kind of star: She is using social media in a way that promotes her imperfect brand—calling the paparazzi “assassins” on Twitter and using Instagram to repost memes of herself from around the web. A video of her leading a group of models in the Harlem Shake—last year’s viral dance anthem—has more than a million and a half hits; her twerk-a-thon with fellow Victoria’s Secret models received similar numbers. In an age of the fastidiously styled and perfectly presented model, Delevingne offers something gloriously weird. Here’s how she did it.
This article appears in the April 21, 2014 issue of New York Magazine.
August 12, 1992: Delevingne is born to an aristocrat and a party girl in London. As a child, she appears in a Cadbury chocolate ad, and is later photo...
August 12, 1992: Delevingne is born to an aristocrat and a party girl in London. As a child, she appears in a Cadbury chocolate ad, and is later photographed by Bruce Weber for Vogue Italia in 2003. She gets signed by superagent Sarah Doukas (who discovered Kate Moss) while still in school. A decade later, she Instagrams pictures from her youth.
September 21, 2010: She makes her runway debut on the Clements Ribeiro spring-summer 2011 runway, but it’s not until the following year, when she walk...
September 21, 2010: She makes her runway debut on the Clements Ribeiro spring-summer 2011 runway, but it’s not until the following year, when she walks the Burberry show, that she becomes a “model-to-watch.”
November 2012: Delevingne makes her acting debut in Anna Karenina.
November 27, 2012: She’s named Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards, which she calls a “Zoolander moment” in an interview.
December 17, 2012: She appears in Burberry’s spring-summer 2013 ads alongside Romeo Beckham.
February 2012: Her eyebrows inspire @eyebrow_cara. Soon after, a handle for her cockeye, @CarasBogEye, appears.
February 17, 2013: With models Jourdan Dunn and Rosie Tapner, she organizes a rendition of the Harlem Shake backstage at the Topshop Unique show in Lo...
February 17, 2013: With models Jourdan Dunn and Rosie Tapner, she organizes a rendition of the Harlem Shake backstage at the Topshop Unique show in London. The video gets more than 1.5 million hits on YouTube.
February 2013: She appears on her first solo cover of British Vogue; announces she’ll be running to newsstands to buy several copies.
February 2013: She’s photographed wearing a hat that reads “Cuntier” instead of Cartier, and an Hermès-inspired “Homiès” beanie.
March 2013: She’s photographed in the bath on the cover of Love.
April 2013: She begins appearing in her now-signature adult onesies.
May 8, 2013: Photos surface of Delevingne dropping what appears to be a bag of cocaine.
May 14, 2013: She gets the face of a lion tattooed on her right index finger and debuts it on Twitter.
May 30, 2013: She stars in Hedi Slimane’s new campaign for Saint Laurent — lying on a carpeted floor in combat boots.
July 9, 2013: At a conservation event for elephants, Delevingne shares a belly laugh with Prince Charles.
August 12, 2013: Delevingne reveals she has terrible psoriasis in a W magazine cover story.
August 20, 2013: She showcases her singing skills in an acoustic version of “Sonnentanz (The Sun Don’t Shine)” on YouTube.
August 23, 2013: She's ren...
August 20, 2013: She showcases her singing skills in an acoustic version of “Sonnentanz (The Sun Don’t Shine)” on YouTube.
August 23, 2013: She's rendered in cake.
November 2013: She lands a part in The Face of an Angel, a film inspired by accused murderer Amanda Knox.
November 19, 2013: She wears a swea...
November 2013: She lands a part in The Face of an Angel, a film inspired by accused murderer Amanda Knox.
November 19, 2013: She wears a sweatsuit to meet with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West backstage at Barclays Center.
December 10, 2013: She posts a video of a spontaneous twerk-a-thon backstage at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.
December 26, 2013: She touches tongues with Miley Cyrus, who shares the event on Twitter.
January 1, 2014: She Instagrams her New Year’s Eve hairdo by Rihanna.
January 7, 2014: Delevingne kisses Michelle Rodriguez in the front row at a Knicks game.
January 18, 2014: She spoons Karlie Kloss and boob-grabs Joan Smalls: 252,000 likes (and counting) on Instagram.
January 21, 2014: Delevingne closes the Chanel Haute Couture show dressed as a bride.
January 26, 2014: The Daily Mail reports that surgeries for eyebrow transplants have soared thanks, at least in part, to Delevingne.
February 3, 2014: Delevingne and Rodriguez carry light sabers through Paddington Station in London.
February 2014: She designs a line of bags for Mulberry, including one in camouflage.
February 17, 2014: She takes what she claims is the first-ever runway selfie video at the Giles show in London.
February 20, 2014: She walks the Fendi fall runway holding a miniature fur ball of Karl Lagerfeld. It is the first event ever recorded by fashion drone.
March 4, 2014: It is announced that Delevingne will make her TV acting debut on a British program, in which she plays a young woman looking after her ...
March 4, 2014: It is announced that Delevingne will make her TV acting debut on a British program, in which she plays a young woman looking after her great-grandmother.
March 12, 2014: She and Kate Moss appear on Delevingne’s Instagram page in a photograph for the new Burberry fragrance campaign.
March 21, 2014: She posts “Stay Weird” — with a cross-eyed Ariel — to her Instagram page.
March 2014: Delevingne swims topless with Rodriguez during a trip to Mexico.
March 31, 2014: On paparazzi: “It scares me, because they act like they’re assassins with their telescope lenses, hiding in bushes or whatever they ca...
March 31, 2014: On paparazzi: “It scares me, because they act like they’re assassins with their telescope lenses, hiding in bushes or whatever they can find.”
April 3, 2014 She uses Instagram to thank artist Nathan Wyburn for rendering her face out of biscuits.
AND COUNTING … Delevingne has 1.6 million Twitter followers and 4.9 million Instagram followers. She’s appeared on gobs of runway shows and magazine covers. She was Tumblr’s most reblogged model of 2013.
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