No Olimpo da moda, a invocação das musas: a constituição e a sobrevivência das imagens públicas das supermodelos dos anos 1990

Abstract

This article investigates the historical and discursive constitution of the public images of 1990s supermodels and the persistence of these images in the present. Its objective is to examine the construction of these figures, understanding them not as empirical or natural subjects, but as effects of discourses produced by the fashion industry in articulation with the media. Inspired by the myth of the Greek Muses, we selected three supermodels as the object of analysis: Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington. This choice does not seek to endorse the mythological imaginary, but rather to challenge it, demystifying these figures and approaching them from their historical and, above all, human condition. By displacing them from fashion's symbolic “Olympus,” the study highlights how their public images have been discursively produced, individualizing bodies, trajectories, and styles while simultaneously establishing symbolic hierarchies within the fashion field. The analysis draws on articles published in internationally renowned magazines, such as Vogue, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar, employing the theoretical and methodological framework of French Discourse Analysis alongside Michel Foucault’s contributions to examine discourses, the production of meaning, and the processes involved in the constitution of public images. The study demonstrates that, although these women are grouped under the category of “supermodel,” the discourses surrounding them regulate their visibility and simultaneously singularize their images. Overall, the magazines’ discourses reaffirm the status of “supermodel” for all three figures while producing meanings that both bring them closer together and set them apart, revealing the complexity of the discursive dynamics that shape their public projections and symbolic positions within the fashion world.