Modeling Agency Maverick, Eileen Ford passes away
Eileen Ford, The legendary fashion industry icon and founder of Ford Models has died at 92. The Maverick is credited with inventing the modern modeling business and in the process launching the careers of several supermodels .
Mrs Ford’s Agency “Ford Models”, became one of the most prestigious modeling agencies in the industry. She helped launch the careers of cover girls and future actresses and introduced the world to Candice Bergen, Ali MacGraw, Jean Shrimpton and Lauren Hutton in the 1960s, and Brooke Shields, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Rachel Hunter in the 1980s.
Ford Models said in a statement, “Eileen Ford was an industry icon and pioneer and everyone in the Ford Models family will miss her dearly. Eileen’s contributions to the modeling and fashion industries are unmatched. She founded Ford Models 68 years ago and due to her unwavering passion, curiosity and drive, grew Ford into one of the world’s most prestigious agencies. We are incredibly proud and grateful for her revolutionary spirit and the values she instilled in Ford Models.”
According to Bloomberg “For more than six decades, Ford represented the world’s most prominent models and raised the profile of the glamor business, which became a recruiting ground for Hollywood.”
Her discipline pushed Ford Model Agency to the top of its field, making multi-millionaires of both Ford and her late husband, Jerry, who handled the company’s business affairs. The agency’s revenues reached $40 million annually by the 1990s. But by 1995, Ford and her husband faded to the background, elevating daughter Kate Ford to the CEO role.
Ford had championed American models, turning their clean, fresh, radiant, wholesome look into the standard of beauty.
