The birth of the supermodel in the 90s undoubtedly cemented the decade’s position as an iconic period in fashion history. This was largely thanks to the Big Six, as they were dubbed – Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Claudia Schiffer – and led to the appeal of models crossing over from the catwalk to TV shows, music videos and even restaurants.

First discovered in 1987 by a model agent in a Düsseldorf nightclub, Schiffer swiftly became one of the most in-demand supermodels in the world. In a career spanning 30 years, she has featured on the cover of over 1,000 fashion mags across the globe, sashayed down the runway as one of Versace’s ‘Golden Girls’, and even made a memorable cameo in Love Actually as Liam Neeson’s love interest.

Schiffer has also built up an impressive archive of fashion photography over the course of her career. Now she is taking fans on a personal photographic journey through fashion’s most illustrious decade in new book Captivate!, along with an accompanying exhibition at Kunstpalast Düsseldorf.

The book features over 150 images, including unseen material from the model’s personal archives. It brings together the work of legendary fashion photographers including Arthur Elgort, Corinne Day, Ellen von Unwerth, Herb Ritts, and Richard Avedon, who regularly photographed supermodels including Schiffer herself.

Together, the photographs bring to life an era which saw the rise of a diverse range of young talent, from photographers to makeup artists, who merged the fields of fashion, music, entertainment and graphic art, and changed the way we view fashion photography today.

There are also personal essays from fashion luminaries Carine Roitfeld, Christiane Arp and Ellen Von Unwerth, as well as quotes from leading industry figures such as Anna Wintour, Edward Enninful, Grace Coddington, Donatella Versace and Valentino Garavani.

“When you look at the last wave of the pre-digital age, you see different formats of fashion photography – from fine art prints to Polaroids, contact sheets, fashion magazines, to campaigns and model cards,” says Schiffer.

“Captivate! is a celebration of fashion photography and also of the teams of photographers, models, stylists, hair and makeup artists, and art directors that harnessed the transformative power of fashion.”

Captivate! Fashion Photography From the 90s is published by Prestel