Fashion Reverie looks back at the iconic British fashion model/actress Jean Shrimpton. Shrimpton is considered one of the first supermodels and a symbol of Swinging London in the 60s. During her career, Jean Shrimpton was the most photographed and the most highly paid model of the 1960s. Shrimpton’s face graced the covers of Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Ladies’ Home Journal and Time magazines. She also helped popularize the miniskirt.
Jean Shrimpton began modeling in 1960 and quickly began to appear in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vanity Fair. Glamour declared her “Model of the Year” in 1964. She was also dubbed “The Face,” “The It Girl,” and “The Face of the 60s.” Jean Shrimpton at the same timewas also nicknamed the “shrimp” due to her name, but also referencing the fact that she broke the trend of curvaceous models with her long legs and slim, coltish figure.
Shrimpton helped usher in a new wave of models that were a direct contrast to the aristocratic models of the 1950s whose look reflected the wealthy women who shopped mostly at couture houses. Closely identified with the Swinging 60s, Shrimpton helped bridge the gap between haute couture and the burgeoning ready-to-wear market. With her doe eyes, arched eyebrows, and long lashes, Shrimpton paved the way for another popular British model of the 60s, Twiggy.
Jean Shrimpton began a relationship with famed British photographer David Bailey in the early 60s and their four-year relationship was dramatized in the 2012 BBC Four film, We’ll Take Manhattan. Shrimpton also starred in the 1967 film Privilege.
—William S. Gooch
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