Canada-born Yasmeen Ghauri was among the supermodels that defined 90s fashion. She worked with some of the biggest names in fashion at the time. While she gained fame from posing for catalogues including Victoria’s Secret, Ghauri’s reputation comes from her presence on the catwalk.
Designers knew Ghauri as having the perfect features and body for modelling. This quickly attracted a lot of success for the model, despite her religious family’s objections to her chosen career path.
Ghauri retired at the height of her career to raise a family. She has since been focusing on philanthropic efforts. A recent reunion with the friends of her glory days is sparking hope for a larger 90s fashion get together.
Yasmeen Ghauri rises through the modeling world
Ghauri stepped into modelling after the artistic director of Platine Coiffure spotted her working at McDonald’s. She was 17 at the time. The supermodel’s discovery came during a time when the fashion world was looking for more diverse models. Ghauri’s complexion, in comparison with a field dominated by white blonde women, quickly set her apart.
Modelling took Ghauri to the fashion capitals of Milan and Paris. She eventually settled in New York in 1990.
Ghauri’s first major cover was with Elle France in July 1991.
Soon after, Chanel picked her up for their 1991 Haute Couture show. Jil Sander quickly followed suit, recruiting the model for their Spring/Summer 1991 Ready-to-Wear fashion show.
By the end of the year, Ghauri was walking in Paris for Gianni Versace, Helmut Lang, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Lanvin. She became the face of Christian Dior and Anne Klein.
The supermodel worked with several amous photographers including Patrick Demarchelier and Steven Meisel. They captured her for British and Italian Vogue editorials.
In 1992 Ghauri signed a contract with Victoria’s secret. Her career skyrocketed over the next few years.
“I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would get this far, as far as I’ve gotten,” Ghauri said in a 90s documentary interview. “I just expected to model for a year or two, make some money, and then go on.”
Ghauri starred opposite rock musician Chris Isaak in Elton John’s music video for the hit 1989 single “Sacrifice.”
Ghauri’s success continued to propel her into a lucrative career until she decided to leave it all behind. She walked her last show, for Yves Saint Laurent, in 1997.
Yasmeen Ghauri finds her own faith
In 1997 Ghauri retired from fashion and settled down with lawyer Ralph Bernstein. She and her husband have two children, a daughter Maia and son Victor. They live in New York.
Ghauri’s father is Pakistani and her mother is German. Both parents are Muslim. She had a strict religious upbringing.
“My father is an imam, which is an Islamic priest,” said Ghauri. “Muslims are not allowed to dance. You’re not really supposed to show your skin. You’re supposed to be covered, you’re supposed to be modest.”
“My father was really not very happy with me modeling,” she explained . “I am putting him in jeopardy…of going to Hell. It’s very dramatic.”
While her parents are strictly Muslim, the retired model keeps open views on religion.
“My husband is Jewish, my children are Jewish, my father was Muslim and an imam, my mother was Catholic before converting to Islam, I believe in a universal source and my faith is personally oriented and I don’t identify with any major religion,” Ghauri wrote in an Instagram post.
Ghauri was born and raised in Montreal. Challenges of race and religion complicated her childhood.
“Racism was kind of a problem in school,” she recalled, “and then on top of it, religion is also quite a heavy thing. No one else was Muslim in my school.”
A reunion of old friends
Despite leading a private life following her retirement from the spotlight, Ghauri is slowly reentering the public eye. She made an Instagram account in late March.
In June Ghauri had coffee with an old supermodel friend Helena Christensen. Both have appeared on the cover of Vogue. The event attracted media attention, sparking hope for a larger reunion of the stars of 90s catwalks.
Since retiring from modelling, Ghauri devoted herself to environmental causes and breast cancer research.
“It’s not nearly as glamorous as people see it as being,” explained the model during her active years. “There’s a lot of travel involved, there’s a lot of work involved. You’re doing hair and makeup for three hours before you even get on the set and that’s not so glamorous. People expect a lot of you – to behave a certain way. There’s a lot.”
