TWIGGY
Twiggy is best evoked as one of the first international
supermodels, muse for the youth population and
a fashion icon of the 1960’s, as well as the face of
London’s “mod” scene. From her debut, at 16 years of
age, her look based on three qualities: her stick-thin
figure, a short boyish haircut and extraordinarily dark
eyelashes. She was short for a model at 5’6” (167 cm),
and extremely thin, which gave her a new kind of
streamlined, androgynous sex appeal.
Skinny to the point of emaciation, Twiggy’s
intersexual charm became the big-eyed portrait of
a modern girl. Her short hair, and exaggerated eye
makeup gave her a unique look, letting her capture the
spirit of the “swinging sixties” in London’s Carnaby
Street mod scene, recognizable to this day. She had
her career breakthrough when she was named The
Face of 1966 by the Daily Express newspaper and
voted British Woman of the Year. She soon appeared
on the cover of many leading fashion magazines,
including Elle, Vogue and The Tatler, and by 1967, she
had modelled in France, Japan, and the US.
Twiggy’s adolescent shape was the perfect starting
point for the androgynous styles that began to emerge
in the 1960’s.
