Canadian Linda Evangelista
— who famously once said that she and her fellow supermodels “don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day” — started modeling in her hometown before an international agent discovered her while she was competing in the Miss Teen Niagara pageant. She may have failed to win the competition, but within just a few years, the beauty was posing for some of the biggest names in fashion. In 1985, she even became Karl Lagerfeld’s muse! Three years later, Linda cropped off her hair and officially earned supermodel status.