Jessica Stam

Jessica Stam (born April 23, 1986) is a Canadian model. She is considered to be part of the crop of models described as "doll faces". In 2007, Forbes named her fifteenth in the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels, earning at an estimated total of $1.5 million in the past 12 months.

Early life and discovery

Stam was born in Kincardine, Ontario and grew up on a farm alongside her six brothers. She came from a religious family and attended Sacred Heart High School in Walkerton, Ontario. Her original intention was to become a dentist. Stam was discovered in a local Tim Hortons coffee shop by Michèle Miller (an agent at the International Model Management agency in Barrie, Ontario) who found Stam on the way back from Canada's Wonderland (a theme park just outside Toronto).

Career

Stam won the Los Angeles Model Look contest in 2002. Photographer Steven Meisel jump-started her career and soon after cast her in every advertisement campaign of his. "I guess I'm his muse", she has said, and she has credited him with helping her become a supermodel. She has appeared on the cover of UK, Turkish & German Vogue and in advertisements for Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, Giorgio Armani and others.