Short hair changed her life
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Take this as your sign to go short. Prior to getting a gamine haircut, the then-teenager was rocking a chin-length bob that apparently aged her several years. It was a time before the era of waif models, and hardly anyone had short hair. But after a spur-of-the-moment hair transformation courtesy of famed hairdressers Yannick d’Is and Ward Stegerhoek, Amber remembers things changing overnight. She successfully booked a ton of shows, and a few months later she got her first cover for Vogue US — a whirlwind start for the ’90s super.
She had the most American Vogue covers of her ’90s cohort
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The circumstances surrounding Amber Valletta’s first Vogue cover are no less impressive than it was 30 years ago. As the story goes, Amber was only 18 years old when she landed her first sitting for American Vogue. To her disappointment, she was told most of the fashion would be shot on Shalom, the Canadian supermodel that would later become one of her dearest friends for life. Instead, she snapped some beauty shots with fashion photographer Arthur Elgort. One of those stunning headshots landed on the cover of the February ‘93 issue, marking a first for Amber. By the end of the decade she had 13 Vogue US covers to her name.
She has a successful acting career
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In the 2000s, Amber shifted her career focus elsewhere, venturing into the world of film and entertainment. She got her first major movie role in Robert Zemecki’s supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath, starring alongside Michell Pfieffer as the spirit of a murdered woman. Since then, she’s amassed over 20 acting credits spanning music videos, television and film, including her role as Allegra in the 2005 romantic comedy with Will Smith, Hitch.
Her devotion to the Earth knows no bounds
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Amber’s immense passion for sustainability and the wellbeing of our environment is no secret. The supermodel grew up in Oklahoma surrounded by nature and an overwhelming desire to protect and cherish it. Amber has previously cited a disconnect with the fashion industry’s values as one of her reasons for taking a step back from modelling in the early 2000s. Her first move towards getting in touch with her personal values was to enrol in a class on the environment at NYU.
She’s since taken every opportunity she can to further her advocacy. Amber was a spokesperson for Oceana’s Stop Seafood Contamination campaign; she launched socially conscious online marketplace, Master & Muse; participated and was arrested at climate-change protests in Washington D.C.; and is a contributing sustainability editor for British Vogue, as well as the Fashion Institute of Technology’s first-ever sustainability ambassador. “I have lots of exciting projects in sustainability and fashion,” she reveals in a Vogue Hong Kong exclusive. Perhaps another instalment of her ongoing collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld’s eponymous brand?
She is open about her past struggle with addiction
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After years of substance abuse, Amber finally got sober at 25. She has always been open about her experience with alcohol and drug addiction, striving to remove the stigma surrounding them. Amber first made her past struggles public in 2014 during a speech for lifestyle media platform Mindbodygreen.com. She continues to shed light on the topic to this day, hoping to inspire others to pursue sobriety and take their first step towards a better life. “I don’t want anyone anywhere to suffer needlessly when I know there is a way out of the darkness to the light of freedom beyond addiction,” she shares in her exclusive interview with Vogue Hong Kong.
Editor
Alyanna Raissa J. PayosCredit
Lead image: Condé Nast Archive