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Lisa FonssagrivesFamous Swedish model
Date of Birth: 17.05.1911
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Biography of Lisa Fonssagrives
- Modeling Career
- Supermodel and Success
- Career and Legacy
- Later Life and Legacy
Biography of Lisa Fonssagrives
The Swedish ModelLisa Fonssagrives, born Lisa Birgitta Bernstone, was born in 1911 in Sweden. The exact location of her birth varies in different sources, but it is known to be either Gothenburg or Uddevalla. She was the daughter of a dentist and a seamstress. Her mother encouraged her interest in dance and ballet, and Lisa also had talents in sculpture and drawing. She later lived in Berlin, Germany, where she attended Mary Wigman's school and continued her dance training. Upon returning to Sweden, she opened her own dance school.
Modeling Career
In the 1930s, Lisa moved to Paris, where she danced in small ballet troupes for several years. In 1935, she married her dance partner, Fernand Fonssagrives. It was during this time that Lisa encountered photographer Willy Maywald in an elevator, who offered her the opportunity to model hats. She eagerly accepted and thus began her modeling career. Maywald soon featured her photos in Vogue magazine, catching the attention of fashion photographer Horst P. Horst. Horst later recalled how nervous Lisa was during their first photo shoot, but she quickly overcame her fear and became a sought-after model.
Supermodel and Success
By the time Lisa arrived in the United States in 1939, she was already a well-established top model. Throughout her career, she worked with renowned photographers such as Erwin Blumenfeld, Jean Moral, George Hoyningen-Huene, Man Ray, Richard Avedon, and Irving Penn. It is said that Irving Penn referred to her as an "illusion" when asked for his opinion on her. Interestingly, Penn later became her husband. Horst also praised Lisa, describing her as having one of the most beautiful bodies he had ever seen.
Career and Legacy
During the late 1940s, while most models earned $10 to $25 per hour, Lisa commanded $40. She defied the common belief that modeling careers ended by the age of thirty and continued to be in high demand. She is credited as the first model to be labeled "super." With the onset of World War II, Lisa and her husband moved to America, where she signed with a modeling agency but soon found herself in such high demand that she did not need contracts. In 1950, Time magazine featured her as the main subject of an article on America's thriving fashion industry, calling her the "highest-paid and most respected model in the world of high fashion." She was known for her ability to understand and fulfill the photographer's vision even before it was expressed.
Later Life and Legacy
In 1950, Lisa's marriage ended, and she married Irving Penn, who was six years younger than her. She continued to work on runways and in photo studios until the late 1950s, making her modeling career one of the longest in history. Lisa Fonssagrives passed away on February 4, 1992, in New York City at the age of 80. She was survived by her husband Irving Penn and their two children, daughter Mia Fonssagrives-Solow and son Tom Penn. Despite her own lighthearted view of herself as a mere "decent hanger for clothes," Lisa Fonssagrives left an undeniable impact on the fashion industry and is remembered as one of the most iconic models of her time.
