Melania Trump’s modeling career was impressive

Growing up in Communist-era Yugoslavia, Melania Trump could never have imagined she’d become one of the most powerful women in the world as the wife of Donald Trump. Born Melania Knabs, the future First Lady lived a traditional Eastern European life (slightly more affluent than the average Communist family) before she was “discovered” as a model by Slovenian fashion photographer Stan Jelko.

Melania began modelling at just 16 years old, pursuing the love of fashion she inherited from her mother, Amalia Navs, who worked as a pattern maker. After graduating from high school, Melania enrolled at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Architecture and Civil and Geodetic Engineering, but dropped out after a few months to pursue a career in modelling. So what was that career like?

Melania’s first modeling experience was when she was 16 years old, at a show sponsored by her school, where she was “discovered” by Stan. Later, despite her initial love for fashion design, Stan encouraged Melania to continue modeling. In 1992, Melania was runner-up in Jane Magazine’s Look of the Year and won an international modeling contract with RVR Reclame in Milan.

She left the agency after a few months, but continued to work as a model around Europe, eventually settling in Paris in her early 20s. Melania primarily modeled for fashion houses in Milan and Paris, the fashion capitals of the world, so it’s no wonder her star continued to rise.

According to Vanity Fair, in 1995, Melania met Paolo Zampolli, a co-owner of Metropolitan Models who would later encourage her to move to New York. He was also a mutual friend of Donald Trump. One of Melania’s earliest jobs during this period was a sexually explicit photoshoot for the 1997 edition of French men’s magazine Max, for which she was offered no payment but was promised “exposure in a major magazine.”

However, as explained in Mary Jordan’s biography, The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, one of Melania’s first big jobs was a Camel cigarette advertisement, photographed by Ellen von Unwerth for Rolling Stone magazine and a Times Square billboard. Since then, Melania has graced the covers of several prestigious publications, including Harper’s Bazaar in Bulgaria and Vanity Fairy in Italy. She has also worked with famous photographers like Patrick Demarchelier and Helmut Newton.

Then, in 2000, Melania posed controversially nude for the cover of GQ. (“It’s no different than what you see every year in Sports Illustrated.”) The issue promoted a “naked supermodels issue” that also featured Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, and more. Melania continued to model while dating Donald Trump, but eventually retired from her career to support her husband and son.

In fact, according to biographers Mary Jordan and Kate Bennett, who wrote “Free, Melania,” Melania was a driving force behind Trump’s 2016 campaign, paying close attention to national polls and urging Trump to follow his instincts. It’s also rumored that Melania is one of the few people who really has Trump’s ear. So, despite Donald’s multiple alleged affairs and Melania’s former modeling background, she may be smarter than many of us initially thought.