Background

Claudia Schiffer was born on August 25, 1970, in Rheinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany (present-day Rheinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). She is the daughter of Gudrun Schiffer and Heinz Schiffer, a lawyer. Claudia has two brothers, Stefan and Andreas, and one sister, Ann Carolin.

Education

Initially, Claudia studied at St. Peter's Catholic Primary School and then attended the Amplonius-Gymnasium Rheinberg. She studied well and had a good command of Chemistry and Mathematics. At the age of 15, Claudia won the city Olympiad in Physics, and the victory gave her the right to enter the University of Munich without passing exams.

Career

Initially, Claudia wanted to become a lawyer and was even employed at her father's law firm. She began her way in modeling at the time, when, in 1987, she was spotted at a discotheque in Düsseldorf by Michel Levaton, the head of Metropolitan Model Agency. Subsequently, Schiffer was signed to the agency as a model. Having graduated from high school, Claudia traveled to Paris for a trial photoshoot, which turned out to be the kick start behind her remarkable success as she went on to appear on the cover of French Elle.

Claudia's success was further cemented in the early 1990s, when she starred in the memorable Guess? Jeans campaigns. Then, the model went on to appear on the covers of other magazines, including that of British Vogue, shot by Herb Ritts. Claudia rapidly achieved the status of a supermodel and received the honor of being selected by Karl Lagerfeld to become the new face of Chanel.

In May 1997, Schiffer appeared on the cover and in the pictorial of Playboy. In November 1999, she was featured on the millennium cover of Vogue as one of the "Modern Muses." The model also appeared on the covers of such magazines, as Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, People, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Time.

It's also important to note, that, during her career, Claudia has walked the catwalk for such fashion houses, as Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Chloé, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Fendi, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Balmain, among others. She has also been featured in advertising campaigns for Chanel, Versace, Balmain, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, and others.

Claudia has been the face of Mango and Accessorize and has endorsed luxury brands. In addition, she is an ambassador of L'Oréal.

Besides being a notable model, Schiffer is a fashion designer. She launched her eponymous cashmere collection during Paris Fashion Week in March 2011.

Throughout her career, the model has appeared in a number of movies, as well as on television and in music videos. The movies she acted in include Richie Rich (1994), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), The Blackout (1997), Desperate But Not Serious (1999), Friends & Lovers (1999), Zoolander (2001), Love Actually (2003), and others. Schiffer has appeared on such talk shows, as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, Late Show with David Letterman, among others. Music videos she appeared in include Bon Jovi's "Say It Isn't So" and Westlife's "Uptown Girl."

Claudia Schiffer was a judge on Fashion Fringe in 2011.

Schiffer is also an entrepreneur and she knows her image is an important asset, when it comes to selling products. Back in the 1990s, she teamed up with supermodels Naomi Campbell and Elle McPherson and opened a restaurant chain, called Fashion Cafe. However, their image was not enough to make the endeavor successful. The Fashion Cafe was closed in 1998. Schiffer never invested in a food business again.

Achievements

• 

  Claudia Schiffer gained prominence as one of the world's most successful supermodels. During her modeling career, she has appeared on more than 1,000 magazine covers. Claudia is the holder of the record for the model with the most magazine covers, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
  
  Claudia has attained two Bambi Awards - in 1991 and 2017. Besides, she was nominated for the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award in 2004 for Love Actually (2003), alongside Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, among many others.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • The Blackout

    (A debauched Hollywood movie actor tries to piece together...)

    1997
  • Love Actually

    (The movie follows the lives of eight very different coupl...)

    2003
  • Chain of Fools

    (Salma Hayek plays an avid detective assigned to the heist...)

    2000
  • Life Without Dick

    (When fortuneteller convinces Colleen that her boyfriend, ...)

    2002
  • Zoolander

    (At the end of his career, a clueless fashion model is bra...)

    2001
  • Richie Rich

    (A rich young boy finds his family targeted in an inside j...)

    1994
  • Prêt-à-Porter

    (A chronicle of the interconnected lives of a group of peo...)

    1994
  • Black and White

    (A group of white high school teens becomes involved with ...)

    1999
  • Friends & Lovers

    (Featuring an all-star cast, including Academy Award nomin...)

    1999

Views

Claudia is known for her work with UNICEF. At the very beginning of her involvement with the organization, she was made a member of the Arts & Entertainment Support Committee. Now, the model is a UK Goodwill Ambassador for it.

Schiffer is a spokesperson for Make Poverty History and the fight against breast cancer.

Quotations: "The difference between the girls today and models of the past is that we are not only interested in fashion: we are going in so many different directions at once. We work harder - at night and on weekends."

"I try to extract something positive from every situation, even if it's just learning not to make the same mistake twice."

"I have always worked out, and I've gone through different phases of yoga, but the combination of Pilates three days a week with yoga is incredible."

"I've looked in the mirror every day for 20 years. It's the same face."

"I design for myself and the first question I ask is, 'Would I wear it?'"

"I am very conservative. I don't invest in anything that is risky. If someone comes to me with a project idea, I let them risk their money, not mine."

"Once in a while I say, 'Go for it' and I eat chocolate."

"I will continue modeling until they don't want me anymore basically because I do love it very much."

"I set for myself only small goals, goals that are not that far away."

"I am calm most of the time."

Personality

Schiffer is fluent in three languages - German, English and French.

The model adores dogs, especially German Shepherds.

Schiffer is a fan of Prada clothing.

Physical Characteristics: Claudia is 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) tall. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. Schiffer has been often compared to Brigitte Bardot, especially during her early career.

Quotes from others about the person

• Paul Marciano, a co-founder of Guess? Inc.: "'Guess?' name became really much more known around the world because of Claudia."

Interests

• Backgammon, horseback riding, painting

• Writers

  J. R. R. Tolkien; Carole Bamford's "Nurture: Notes and Recipes from Daylesford Farm," Michael Greger's "How Not to Die"

• Artists

  Pablo Picasso

• Sport & Clubs

  Tennis, football, baseball, skiing

• Music & Bands

  Prince's "The Beautiful Ones"; The Beatles

Connections

In January 1994, Claudia became engaged to David Copperfield, a magician, whom she had met the previous year, in 1993, at a Berlin celebrity gala. In September 1999, the couple announced they had ended their relationship, citing work schedules.

Later, after partying ways with Copperfield, Schiffer dated art dealer and Green Shield Stamps heir Tim Jefferies for some time until 2000. On May 25, 2002, she married Matthew Vaughn, a film director. Their marriage produced three children: son Caspar Matthew and daughters Clementine Poppy and Cosima Violet.

Father:

Heinz Schiffer

(born 1937 - died 2007)

Mother:

Gudrun Schiffer

Brother:

Stefan Schiffer

Brother:

Andreas Schiffer

Sister:

Ann Carolin Schiffer

ex-partner:

David Copperfield

(born September 16, 1956)

David Copperfield, born David Seth Kotkin, is an American magician.

ex-partner:

Tim Jefferies

husband:

Matthew Vaughn

(born March 7, 1971)

Matthew Vaughn, in full Matthew Allard Robert Vaughn, is an English film producer, director, and screenwriter.

Son:

Caspar Matthew de Vere Drummond

(born January 30, 2003)

Daughter:

Clementine de Vere Drummond

(born November 11, 2004)

Daughter:

Cosima Violet von Drummond

(born May 14, 2010)

friend and colleague:

Naomi Campbell

(born May 22, 1970)

Naomi Campbell is a notable English model, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist. She became the first black woman to appear on the cover of French Vogue en route to iconic status in the modeling industry. In addition, Campbell has made a number of acting appearances in film and television.

colleague:

Elle Macpherson

(born March 29, 1964)

Elle Macpherson, in full Eleanor Nancy Macpherson, is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host and actress.

colleague:

Christy Turlington

(born January 2, 1969)

Christy Turlington is an American fashion model, best known as the face of the cosmetics company Maybelline and the Calvin Klein fashion house. Turlington appeared on more than 500 magazine covers and walked the runways for the world's top fashion houses, including Chanel and Valentino.

References

• Claudia Schiffer's Instagram
• Claudia Schiffer's Facebook
• Claudia Schiffer's Official Website