DOVIMA (Model)

Dovima, made-up with the painted kohl lids and expressive pencilled brows of the 1950s, strikes an artful pose from behind white tulle. She and Richard Avedon broke new ground in fashion photography. Modelling with elephants or in front of the pyramids, they took fashion out of the whitewashed studio and into the "real" world for the first time. Dovima was talent-spotted on the street outside the offices of Vogue in New York and was soon in front of Irving Penn's lens. She told him her name was Dovima (the first letters from her real names, Dorothy Virginia Margaret) because that was how she signed her paintings. Charging an hourly rate of $60, she became known as the dollar-a-minute girl. After twelve years at the top, she appeared alongside Audrey Hepburn in one of the most fashion films, Funny Face. Dovima's graceful, arch poses are now regarded as the sine qua non of haute couture presentation. 

Also look up for Avedon, Beaton, Lauder, Penn