She Didn’t See Herself as Model Material
After graduation in 1973, Brinkley (seen here years years later, making faces with Brooke Shields) moved to Paris to study art, with the dream of becoming an illustrator. At 19, she was discovered in a French post office by a photographer, who introduced her to an agent with Elite Model Management. “Modeling was never in my plan,” Brinkley recalled. “Never.”