Christie Brinkley may not have been the very first American supermodel, but she was the most prolific of her time. 'Sports Illustrated' magazine doesn't tend to hand its front covers out easily, but for Brinkley, they made an exception. During the 1970s, she was the cover girl of three consecutive issues, which was a first in the history of the publication.
That wasn't the exact start of Brinkley's career, but it was a major push along the way. Despite her success, she didn't originally think of herself as a model. She felt that she was a 'normal' girl from California and didn't understand why so many people were so keen to take pictures of her. She was also more interested in a career in the arts, having moved to Paris to study in 1973. Some would say that rather than studying art, she became it.