# Raquel Zimmermann

Raquel Cristina Zimmermann (born May 6, 1983) is a Brazilian model. Throughout her career Zimmermann has appeared on 37 Vogue covers. She currently ranks under "Icons" on models.com.

## Biography

Zimmermann was born in Bom Retiro do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul and is of German descent. Raquel reports that she practices the Transcendental Meditation technique.

## Discovery and modeling career
### Early career 2000-2004

Zimmermann was discovered by a scouting agency in Porto Alegre, Brazil at the age of 14 and made her way to Japan and on to Paris. In 1995 she attended a modelling school but went to Japan afterwards. Shortly thereafter, Steven Meisel booked her for the cover of Vogue Italia, September 2000, and her modelling career began in earnest as she appeared on the cover of the French Vogue in the same year. Zimmermann was chosen by Dior as the face of the makeup campaign.
In 2004 she became the face of Escada, and it was also stated in the New York Magazine that Zimmermann was paid 10,000 $ pro runway in New York, Milan, London and Paris in which she walked in average 70 shows a season. In the same year she became the face of Hermès and Gucci.

### Rise to prominence 2006-2009

Zimmermann has done campaigns for brands such as: Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bloomingdales, Bottega Veneta, Cavalli jeans, Cerruti, Chanel eyewear, Chloé, Christian Dior, CK by Calvin Klein, Clairol, Dolce & Gabbana, DSquared², Emanuel Ungaro, Escada, Fendi, GAP, Gucci, Giorgio Armani, H&M, Hermès, Hugo Boss, Isabel Marant, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Lanvin, Loewe, MAC Cosmetics, Marc Jacobs, Max Mara, Moschino, Neiman Marcus, Nina Ricci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Shiatzy Chen, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino, Viktor & Rolf, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, and Zara.
She has regularly appeared in American Vogue, French Vogue, Italian Vogue, W, Harper's Bazaar, Visionaire, POP, and Self Service. Zimmermann has appeared on many magazine covers, such as: Vogue (Brazil, USA, Italy, France, Japan, China, Greece, Germany, Russia), Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Numéro, L'Officiel, Marie Claire, i-D, V, and French.
In 2006 Zimmerman was part of 5 important advertising campaigns such as Max Mara, Louis Vuitton, Escada, Viktor&Rolf, and H&M. In 2007 she was part of the eyewear campaign by Karl Lagerfeld.
In the May 2007 issue of American Vogue she was featured on the cover with fellow models Doutzen Kroes, Caroline Trentini, Hilary Rhoda, Sasha Pivovarova, Agyness Deyn, Coco Rocha, Jessica Stam, Chanel Iman, and Lily Donaldson as one of the "World's Next Top Models." In 2008 casting agent James Scully, who is responsible for picking which model is to score a spot on top runways, said in regard to Zimmermann:
   The energizer model! I think she's the only model of the last ten years who never goes out of fashion. It's as though she never ages yet gets better-looking each season. Probably the most versatile model of all, she truly could be in any show. Her professionalism rivals any model and her timeliness is equal to Cindy Crawford's, whose punctuality was legendary.
In 2007 Zimmermann appeared on the cover of V and in the first ever television commercial by Gucci for its new fragrance, Gucci by Gucci, directed by David Lynch.
Zimmermann was ranked number one on international model ranking website models.com from December 2007 until February 2010.

### Continued success 2010-present

As of April 2011 she was, because of her long run on the Top 100, ranked 14 on the Top Model Icons of All Time list. The May 2009 issue of American Vogue featured her as one of the faces of the season, alongside Liya Kebede, Lara Stone, Natasha Poly, Caroline Trentini, Jourdan Dunn, Natalia Vodianova, Anna Jagodzinska, and Isabeli Fontana. Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. She also appeared in the 2002, 2005 and 2006 Victoria's Secret fashion shows. In 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017 Zimmermann appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia.
She starred in the Lady Gaga music video for "Born This Way", where she was featured wearing designer clothing and helped give birth to a non-prejudiced race from the "Mother Monster".
In 2014, she was the face of the Narciso Rodriguez fragrance, and the next year she was among the protagonists being photographed for the Pirelli Calendar by Steven Meisel. In 2016, she was part of the Versace S/S 16 campaign along with Gigi Hadid and Natasha Poly. The following year she appeared on the campaigns for Alberta Ferreti along with Irina Shayk, Carolyn Murphy, Julia Nobis and Vittoria Ceretti. Zimmerman was announced as a Revlon ambassador in January 2018.