Yasmeen Ghauri

Yasmeen Ghauri (Urdu: یاسمین غوری‎; born March 23, 1971) is a Canadian model.

Yasmeen Ghauri was born in Montreal, Quebec to a Pakistani father, Moin Ghauri, and a German mother, Linda Ghauri. Early on in her life, Ghauri had a difficult childhood often being teased by her classmates at school for being too thin and for her ethnicity. Ghauri was reportedly working at a McDonalds restaurant at the age of 17 when she was discovered by Montreal hairdresser and salon artistic director of Platine Coiffure Edward Zaccharia. At the restaurant, she often turned up dressed in black from head to toe and people described her as having a rebellious nature. Despite this, she was named Employee of the Month. Soon after her discovery, there was a shift in mentality within the fashion industry, moving from predominantly all-American models to more “ethnic” models, a trend which Ghauri helped to inspire.

Her father disapproved of her new-found interest and career as a model. Nonetheless, she pursued a modeling career, first spending time in Milan and Paris before moving to New York in 1990. Here she was noticed by the “fashion police”, critics and labels alike. She was praised for her poise and an exaggerated walk on the runway. The New York Times quoted her walk as a “ball-bearing swivel of her hips.” Her appearance on the catwalks prompted part of what is now termed in fashion the “Canadian invasion.”

Ghauri enjoyed fame in the early 1990s after landing her first major cover with Elle Magazine in January 1991. Soon after, she became the face of both Chanel and Jil Sander. By the end of 1990, she had appeared on the cover of French Elle in July and December. In September, she graced the catwalk for Gianni Versace’s show in Milan and by the next month she was walking for Chanel, Helmut Lang, Jean Paul Gaultier and Lanvin in Paris. She became the face of Christian Dior and Anne Klein in 1991. In January, she was photographed by Steven Meisel for the cover of Italian Vogue and toward the end of the year, she appeared in British and Italian Vogue editorials. Photographer Patrick Demarchelier, who photographed her for the Italian issue, called her his favourite subject.

In 1992, she landed a contract with Victoria’s Secret and became a face of Valentino couture and Versace. According to a NYMag.com online model profile, Ghauri walked the controversial Gianni Versace “Bondage” show in Milan in February 1992. Ghauri became the face of Hermès and Lanvin in 1993 and was photographed by Gilles Bensimon for Elle.

She appeared in the 1995 documentary Unzipped by Isaac Mizrahi. She walked the 1996 annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

When Ghauri stepped out of the Yves Saint Laurent show in 1996 at the last minute, speculations arose that she was retiring. She did indeed retire to start a family with her husband Ralph Bernstein and now has a daughter named Maia and a son named Victor.

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