Niki Taylor - Modeling Career

Modeling Career

When she was 13, Taylor signed with Irene Marie Models in South Florida. There she met photographer Jean Renard, who later became her manager. She subsequently won a Fresh Faces contest in New York City and a $500,000 modeling contract. Taylor's first magazine cover was an issue of Seventeen (August 1989) at 14. The following year, at 15, she graced the cover of Vogue.

In 1991, Taylor was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People, wearing a bright-orange one-piece bathing suit with long lime-green gloves on the beach. The following year, Taylor became the first spokesmodel younger than 18 to sign a major contract with CoverGirl, and she became a feature in their national advertising campaign. Some of her other ad campaigns have been for Liz Claiborne, Nokia, Ellen Tracy, L'Oréal, Gap, Lee Jeans, Rampage clothes, and Pantene. Taylor also simultaneously had six enormous billboards in NYC's Times Square for Liz Claiborne.

In May 1996, Taylor appeared on the cover of the six major American women's fashion and fitness magazines in the same month: Allure, Vogue, ELLE, Marie Claire, Self, and Shape. She appeared in the 1997 and 1998 editions of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and was the cover-model of the 1998 Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar. "Sports Illustrated" released three video segments of her photo-shoots, for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999. The '97 segment was with one other model, Naomi Campbell, the '98 segment was with two other models, and the '99 segment was dedicated to her alone.