Everyone has a favourite super, the face that spoke to them above them all. For Adut Akech it's Naomi Campbell, now and forever. For Charlotte York it was Christy Turlington, and for a generation of women Kate Moss took that crown. As fashion reaches increasingly towards nostalgia, the 90s supermodel that we can't seem to shake is Amber Valletta.
Scouted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Valletta touched down in Europe before she had even turned 18. Her career immediately took on a life of its own. How could it not? With those thin eyebrows and that icy stare, somehow toeing the line between angelic and withering, always.
We have the images to fill in the rest. Fronting campaigns for Versace and modelling that iconic jungle dress. Her face is the one our mind darts to when we consider Tom Ford's Gucci. And it was one that photographer Steven Meisel could shoot to no end. To this day, she is deeply intertwined with Mugler, Casey Cadwallader tapping Valletta and her fashion best friend Shalom Harlow for its most recent campaign. Her resume extends past fashion too, having dipped her toes in the world of show business and acting.
Below, we revisit some of the most defining fashion moments of Amber Valletta's career so far.
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Captured by Patrick Demarchelier for the June 1993 issue of US Harper's Bazaar.
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Amber photographed by Peter Lindbergh as an angel for Harper's Bazaar December 1993.
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Amber Valletta, Kate Moss and Shalom Harlow for Glamour France September 1993.
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Valletta captured by Herb Ritts for Vogue US, April 1994.
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Lensed by Peter Lindbergh for Jil Sander SS 1994.
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Amber Valletta shot for that iconic Gucci Fall 1995 campaign.
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This silk shirt has been seared into our memory.
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Amber Valletta for Jil Sander FW 1995 by Craig McDean.
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Amber Valletta shot by Mario Sorrenti for Calvin Klein Escape fragrance in 1995.
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Amber Valletta by Steven Meisel for Alberta Ferretti SS 1996
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Gianni Versace Spring 1996 Haute Couture.
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Captured by by Juergen Teller for i-D, The Undressed Issue, No. 159, Dec 1996.
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Anna Sui SS 1996.
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Amber Valletta for Byblos SS 1996.
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Claudia Schiffer, Amber Valletta and her best friend Shalom Harlow for Valentino Haute Couture SS 1996.
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Chloé SS 1998.
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Anna Sui FW 1998.
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Amber Valletta for SS 2000, modelling the famous Jungle Dress that birthed Google Images.
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Amber wear Jean Paul Gaultier to the 2004 'Dangerous Liaisons'-themed Met Gala.
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Christian Dior FW 2007 Haute Couture by John Galliano.
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The model wore Saint Laurent to the 2019 Met Gala in line with the theme 'Camp: Notes on Fashion'.
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For Mugler Fall Winter 2021.
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At the Met Gala, 2023, wearing Karl Lagerfeld.
