Claudia Schiffer Biography

Claudia Maria Schiffer was born on August 25, 1970, in a small German town called Rheinberg near Dusseldorf. Her parents were Gudrun and Heinz Schiffer. She has three siblings, two brothers and a sister.

At school Schiffer was a bright but timid student. She earned the nickname ‘duck’ because of her long legs.

Schiffer’s father was a lawyer and she wanted to be one too. During her student years, she also worked for some time at her father’s law firm.

At the age of 17, Claudia Schiffer was spotted at a Dusseldorf nightclub by a French Agent who asked if she could come to Paris. She was surprised but decided to take a day off school and see what it was about.

Claudia Schiffer, according to her own words, has always been a shy person and she didn’t understand French or English either at that point. In Paris, at the trial photoshoot, things went better than Schiffer had ever anticipated and the rest is history.

One year after she was spotted at a nightclub, Claudia Schiffer’s face, shot by photographer Gilles Bensimon, appeared on the cover of the French Elle Magazine.

In Paris, she caught the eye of fashion-model-turned-photographer Ellen von Unwerth. Both the artist and the model were starting their respective careers and Unwerth’s photographs of Schiffer brought both of them into the limelight.

The pictures of Schiffer by Unwerth were noticed by the fashion designer Paul Marciano who offered them the ad campaign for his brand Guess Jeans. Schiffer travelled all over the continent and across the Atlantic to America for Guess’s ad campaigns and became a familiar face as the Guess girl.

In the autumn of 1989 the editor-in-chief of British Vogue decided to put the young model on its October 1989 issue cover. Schiffer was photographed by Herb Ritts wearing haute couture gowns.

After Schiffer appeared on the British Vogue cover, Chanel fashion house’s director Karl Lagerfeld asked to meet her. He went on to sign her up as a model for the autumn-winter collection in 1990.

According to Schiffer it was Lagerfeld who transformed her from a shy teenager into a supermodel and taught her about style, fashion and skills required to survive in the high-profile fashion industry.

In the 1990s Claudia Schiffer joined the league of Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington. This group came to be known as the original supermodels and were celebrated like rock stars.

Claudia Schiffer has been a fashion model for all the topmost fashion houses of the world since walking the ramp for Chanel, they include Versace, Armani, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren etc.

Along with modelling for haute couture, Schiffer also became the face of high street fashion houses such as Mango and Accessorize.

Within a few years of being a model Schiffer started getting film offers. Her debut was as a personal trainer to Richie Rich in the 1994 film of the same name.

In 1994 while she was engaged to magician David Copperfield she appeared in the documentary about him titled, David Copperfield: 15 years of Magic. She essayed the role of a reporter interviewing Copperfield in this documentary.

Claudia Schiffer starred in a lead role in the 1997 American film The Blackout. She was paired with Mathew Modine in the film which was screened outside the competition section during the Cannes Film Festival.

Schiffer has made a few cameo appearances in music videos such as Bon Jovi’s 2000 video Say it isn’t So and the 2001 single ‘Uptown Girl’ which was created by Westlife for the charity Comic Relief.

Schiffer appeared in the hit 2003 romantic-comedy movie Love Actually where she played a mom of a school-going kid attracted to a recently widowed dad played by Liam Neeson.

Claudia Schiffer is the brand ambassador of L’Oreal. She holds the distinction of being the brand ambassador of L’Oreal for the longest time.

In 2011 Schiffer turned to designing and launched her collection of Cashmere at the Paris Fashion Week. She continues to design to date. Her recent work was with Etre Cecile, the duo designed a collection that reflects Schiffer’s iconic personal style of chic casualness.

In 2012, to mark the 30th anniversary of the Guess Schiffer returned as the face that launched Guess along with Ellen von Unwerth.

Schiffer has been an advocate of healthy living and her exercise video series Claudia Schiffer’s Perfectly Fit has been a bestseller.

To mark her fiftieth birthday Schiffer together with her friend Carole Bamford launched a limited-edition beauty product kit which was based on Schiffer’s own skincare regime.

In March 2021 Claudia Schiffer curated an exhibition of photographs for the Kunstpalast Museum in Dusseldorf. The exhibition showcases the work of designers, fashion editors, photographers and supermodels of the 1990s.

In 1994 Claudia Schiffer got engaged to David Seth Kotkin known better as the magician David Copperfield. During this time, she also made appearances on his shows assisting him with his act. They broke off their engagement in 1999.

Schiffer married film director Matthew Vaughn on 25 May 2002. As her husband currently holds the title of Count, Schiffer is now the Countess Claudia de Vere Drummond. The couple has three children; a son Casper Matthew and two daughters Clementine Poppy and Cosima Violet.

She and her husband Matthew Vaughn own a Tudor era mansion, Coldham Hall in Suffolk, England where the family resides.

Schiffer is involved in many charities and often donates the proceeds from her ventures to charities. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

Schiffer is known for the disciplined life that she led during her modelling years. She doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke. In her 50s she looks just as glamourous as she was when she started modelling. She credits this to her natural and healthy lifestyle.