Some of them never really went away, even when we wished they would (yes, Naomi, that means you), but others have been out of the limelight for years. Now, the supermodels who graced every magazine cover and ad campaign in the early 90s are making their triumphant return. Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and my favorite, Linda Evangelista, are all featured in fall fashion campaigns.

The veteran supermodels are back: two decades older but mysteriously unwrinkled, they are eclipsing rivals half their age this autumn.

An audit of the adverts in September’s Vogue shows that almost all of the best fashion houses are choosing the legendary models of the Eighties and Nineties to front their autumn/ winter campaigns.

Appearing in the magazine are Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer and Linda Evangelista: the same faces who put modelling on the map more than 20 years ago.

Today, 43-year-old Evangelista fronts the campaign for Italian label Prada. Her predecessor, Russian Sasha Pivovarova, 23, had appeared in six consecutive campaigns.

Chanel has also left young models by the wayside, enlisting Turlington - who also models in fashion house Escada’s autumn/winter campaign - to appear in an eyewear commercial.

Schiffer, 38 - barely recognisable in a dark brown wig - is the face of the mainline Chanel collection. Now a mother of two, she also appears in an advert for Italian shoe label Salvatore Ferragamo…

Recalling the heyday of the supermodel, Mr Pilati said: “They were 12 of the most amazing girls. Today there are beautiful girls more or less but they don’t have that attitude.”

The resurgence of the supermodel shows a change in direction for a fashion industry accustomed to using very thin and young girls to head big campaigns.

“It’s not surprising when you consider where the spending power lies,” says Simon Chambers, managing director of Storm Model Management, which represents Kate Moss.

“When it comes to fashion photography, these girls are the best there are. It’s not surprising clients come back to them.”

[From The Daily Mail]

I remember being obsessed with the George Michael music video, “Freedom,” which featured all of those supermodels- Cindy Crawford, Naomi, Christy, Linda and Tatjana Patitz, who had that Greta Garbo look going on. My friends and I used to strut around and pretend to be each of them. I even had the short blond Linda Evangelista haircut. Sigh. Good times. I’m glad to see these ladies return to Vogue. Most of today’s models are little more than glorified clothes hangers. These ladies had style, attitude, and each one had a unique look.

George Michael - Freedom 90 - Music Video via Noolmusic.com

Famed nineties supermodel Christy Turlington is featured in on the cover of the upcoming issue of W Magazine (update: with Penelope Cruz on the cover), and looks beyond stunning. The model, who is married to actor/director/screenwriter Ed Burns, posed for a series of pictures described as “Greco-Roman warrior-goddess.” The magazine also referred to her as “iconic.” I wonder if models like that word. It’s a compliment, but it also implies age, which I’m under the impression they’re rather phobic about.

While we’re on the subject of the Supermodel Comeback - which we think will be in the news for a while yet - it’s worth pointing out Christy Turlington’s stunning new shoot in the August issue of W magazine, titled “Champion”. The 39-year-old knockout, who as we mentioned has been re-signed as the face of German fashion house Escada, poses as a “Greco-Roman warrior-goddess” for photog Michael Thompson in old-school black-and-white. Talk about classical beauty - obviously all that yoga and being married to Ed Burns agrees with her.

[From Luxist]

Christy has also been working hard on behalf of maternal health issues. She’s spent a good deal of her time lobbying for help for fistula survivors and other dangerous pregnancy issues that especially effect third world countries.

Christy Turlington is no stranger to using her supermodel status to raise awareness - and she is now turning her attention to the health issues surrounding motherhood.

The mum-of-two, who is married to actor Ed Burns, recently joined former Spice girl Geri Halliwell in Washington to lobby politicians for legislation to promote maternal health around the world - noting that one woman every minute dies during childbirth.

“I’m a mum, so maternal health is very important to me,” Turlington - an ambassador for humanitarian organisation CARE - tells Contactmusic.Com. “I’ve had safe deliveries for both my children because I have had access to skilled medical care. Yet for too many women in the developing world, pregnancy and childbirth is a serious life-and-death issue.”

[From UK Vogue]

Here are Christy’s photos from the W Magazine spread. I think they are some of the most gorgeous and stunning ones I’ve seen in a long time.

Several celebrities have visited Capital Hill in the past two weeks to testify and represent causes. In many cases the celebrities went through tragedy and adversity and became committed and knowledgeable about issues that personally affected them. In other cases they became involved with specific causes they feel passionate about. Either way, they’re bringing attention to important issues and making a difference. I’d rather see a celebrity testifying in front of a committee than shopping, eating out, or worse getting a DUI, but unfortunately the latter get a lot more attention.

5/21/08: Breast cancer survivor Sheryl Crow testifies in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee to support a bill funding breast cancer research. Crow emphasized that she has no family history of breast cancer, and said “I want to know what causes this disease. We need to put more resources into figuring out what the environment has to do with breast cancer.” [Paraphrased from Houston Chronicle. You can view Crow's testimony as a Real Media file thanks to C-Span.org]

5/21/08: Michael Douglas meets with Indiana Senator Richard Lugar at The Capitol to urge him to prevent the spread and use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons as a director of the Ploughshares Fund organization [Description verbatim from WENN]

5/20/08: United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) goodwill ambassador Geri Halliwell and Care ambassador Christy Turlington hold a rally and press conference with congresswomen and fistula survivors. They urged support of a new bill promoting maternal health throughout the world. [Details paraphrased from Baltimore Sun]

5/14/08: Ed Norton testifies in front of the The House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming. He is a trustee of Enterprise Community Partners, which was founded by his grandfather and builds affordable homes using green building practices for low income families. He said “The legacy of my generation is going to hinge on how we respond to these revelations that we’re not living sustainably, and that we’re altering the environment.” [Quote and details paraphrased from Peopletreefilms. Video is available on Globalwarming.house.gov - scroll to the last video in the list]

5/14/08: Dennis Quaid testifies in front of the House Reform and Government Oversight Committee urging Congress not to support a measure by the drug companies that would make them immune from lawsuits. He is suing company Baxter Healthcare Corp after a known second preventable mixup in which his newborn twins almost died after being given 1,000 times the dosage of Heparin, a blood thinner. Batches of Heparin have since been recalled for an unrelated incident in which the drug became tainted at a manufacturing plant in China, resulting in 19 known deaths. Dennis Quaid’s twins are healthy at five and a half months old, and are not thought to suffer lasting effects from the near-fatal overdose. [Details paraphrased from MSNBC. Quaid's testimony is available on House.gov as a PDF file and the video is available as a Real Media file from C-span.org]

5/8/08: Cancer survivor, founder of a cancer advocacy nonprofit organization, and seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, testifies in front of The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century. [From Senate.gov, where there's also a video of Lance's testimony]

Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Writer/director/actor/hottie (okay that last classification isn’t official) Ed Burns had some pretty clear (and uber romantic) reasons for wanting to meet now-wife Christy Turlington. He tells Best Life magazine “‘We both live in New York, we’re both pretty low-key, both heterosexual.’” If those are his only qualifications, he could have just as easily married me. Jerk. Apparently Turlington wasn’t even interested in Burns, and declined being fixed up by mutual friends with a “‘Uh, not really interested.’”

“‘Friends of ours had tried to fix us up - we both live in New York, we’re both pretty low-key, both heterosexual - but she was like, `Uh, not really interested,’” the 39-year-old actor-director tells Best Life magazine in its October issue. ‘That did not deter me. I just wanted to get her to laugh.’

“How long did it take to build up the nerve to kiss her?

“‘Probably within five minutes of meeting her,’ Burns says. ‘Which hurt my chances. It took her a long time to come around. But I got her good and drunk, if I remember correctly, which never hurts.’ Turlington and Burns wed in 2003. They have two children.”

[From the Washington Post]

Aww, that’s so sweet! What girl doesn’t love her guy telling the story of how he wooed her… by getting her shitfaced. Oh well, she’s a model, I’m told they live on cigarettes and celery, so I’m sure it didn’t take much to get her drunk. Probably wasn’t even his fault. The article also talks about Burns’ new movie, “Purple Violets,” and the way his career has kind of, well um, taken a nosedi… well it’s pretty much sucked the last few years.

“Burns was seen as the next Woody Allen after directing and starring in 1995’s ‘The Brothers McMullen.’ ‘I was the toast of the town,’ he tells the magazine. ‘All of a sudden I was semifamous. There were six-figure checks.’ However, his other New York-based movies, including ‘Sidewalks of New York’ and ‘The Groomsmen,’ didn’t fare well at the box office, and failed to meet critics’ expectations.

“‘I’d been trying to forge another version of Woody Allen’s career, to the point that when I signed with ICM right after `The Brothers McMullen,’ I signed with Sam Cohn, who was Woody Allen’s longtime agent,’ Burns says. ‘The obsession ran that deep.’ The idea was to stay in New York and make small dialogue-driven movies, says Burns, who grew up in Valley Stream, N.Y.

“‘And I have to admit, I love most of my films,’ he says. ‘But at a certain point, you have to take your influence and find your own voice if you want to become a relevant artist. I don’t want to explore what it’s like to reconnect with old friends, what it’s like to grow up on Long Island, what it’s like to cheat on your girlfriend, or any of that. … I want to raise the stakes.’

“Next month, Burns’ new romantic comedy, ‘Purple Violets,’ will become the first featured film to be released and distributed by iTunes.”

[From the Washington Post]

Not to be totally bitchy to someone famous that I have a crush on, but I don’t think your movie being released and distributed by iTunes really means your career is turning around. iTunes is great and relevant and helps artists make money and users save money, but don’t filmmakers make the bulk of their money at the theater? No matter how poorly his last few films have performed in the box office, I have to think it’d do better than on iTunes. It’s one thing when you film is released on iTunes along with DVD… but if it starts there, isn’t that the equivalent of starting on DVD? I didn’t think direct-to-DVD was an Ed Burns thing… it’s more of a “Dukes of Hazzard 2” thing.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Ed Burns & Christy Turlington at the 2007 Food Bank of New Can Do Awards Dinner Honoring The Edge and Jimmy Fallon in April in New York. Images thanks to PR Photos.