Current index status
#69 in the live index.
The rating reflects current verified work and prestige weighting. It is an editorial assessment, not a judgement of personal worth.
Index Rating · High confidence · evidence reviewed
79.2
- Runway · 40%
- 78
- Campaigns · 30%
- 85
- Editorial · 20%
- 70
- Cultural aura · 10%
- 85
01 / Why they matter
What Christy is known for.
Calvin Klein and current international campaign work
02 / Career record
Early life
Christy Nicole Turlington was born on 2 January 1969 in Walnut Creek, California, to Pan Am pilot Dwain Turlington and Salvadoran flight attendant María Elizabeth Parker Infante. She was scouted by photographer Dennie Cody while horseback riding in Miami at 14, began modelling in her mid-teens, and moved to New York at 18 to model full-time.
03 / Career record
Defining the supermodel era, 1986–1993
Turlington appeared in Duran Duran’s "Notorious" video and album cover in 1986, and in 1989 signed the landmark Calvin Klein Eternity campaign contract, a partnership that would run until 2007 and be revived in 2014. In January 1990, Peter Lindbergh photographed her alongside Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz for a British Vogue cover that became the defining image of the "supermodel" era. She became the face of Maybelline in 1992, and in 1993 the Metropolitan Museum of Art named her "Face of the 20th Century," producing mannequins in her likeness; she and Naomi Campbell are also credited with popularising navel piercing that decade.
04 / Career record
Education and health advocacy, 1999–2011
Turlington earned a BA in Comparative Religion and Eastern Philosophy from NYU’s Gallatin School in 1999, and published "Living Yoga: Creating a Life Practice" in 2002. She began advocacy work with the humanitarian organisation CARE in 2005, visiting El Salvador, and — having smoked from age 13 before quitting in 1995 and being diagnosed with early-stage emphysema in 2000 — founded the maternal-health nonprofit Every Mother Counts in 2010, directing the documentary "No Woman, No Cry," which premiered at Tribeca and aired on OWN on 7 May 2011.
05 / Career record
Recent record, 2019–2026
Turlington closed Marc Jacobs’s Autumn/Winter 2019 show and was selected for the September 2019 British Vogue cover guest-edited by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. She was featured in Apple TV+’s docuseries "The Super Models" in September 2023, and on 4 February 2026 was named Global Brand Ambassador for Lancôme, joining a roster that includes Julia Roberts, Olivia Rodrigo and Isabella Rossellini. She continues to run Every Mother Counts.
06 / At a glance
Quick facts.
- —Born 2 January 1969 in Walnut Creek, California, to a Pan Am pilot father and a Salvadoran flight attendant mother
- —Scouted by photographer Dennie Cody while horseback riding in Miami at 14
- —One of the "Big Three" original supermodels alongside Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, defined by Peter Lindbergh’s January 1990 British Vogue cover
- —The face of Calvin Klein’s Eternity campaign from 1989 to 2007, revived in 2014
- —Named "Face of the 20th Century" by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1993
- —Founded the maternal-health nonprofit Every Mother Counts in 2010
07 / Current index evidence
Why is Christy Turlington ranked #69?
- Walked Ralph Lauren RTW Spring 2025 in New York, September 2024, reunited on the runway with Naomi Campbell.
- Donna Karan 'Reflections on Women' Fall 2024 campaign; Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2026, Zara 50th Anniversary (May 2025), Jacquemus Spring/Summer 2025 and Stuart Weitzman (January 2025) campaigns.
Confidence: High confidence · evidence reviewed. Scores may change when a source is corrected or new work enters the current window.
Facts on this page are drawn from public work records and industry press, and summarised in our own words. This is an independent editorial profile — it is not endorsed by the subject, their agencies, or the brands named. Last reviewed 2026-07-14. Corrections: desk@thecastindex.com.