She later dropped these aspirations when, in October 1987 at 17, she was spotted in a nightclub in Düsseldorf by Michel Levaton, the boss of Metropolitan Model Agency who signed her up to become a model.
Claudia Schiffer je dejala, da je bila v srednji šoli precej popularna, vendar je bila tako visoka, da je zaradi tega postala zelo sramežljiva in je želela ostati neopažena.