Photos show her as a model – how good was she really?

She achieved her international breakthrough and landed on several magazine covers. But how good was Melania Trump really as a model? An expert makes a clear verdict.

At the age of 16, Melania Trump – then known as Melanija Knavs – was discovered by a photographer in her home country of Slovenia. Stane Jerko speaks to her at a fashion show. “You are beautiful. I think you could be a great model,” she recalls him saying in her recently published memoir, “Melania: A Memoir.” He offers her a photo shoot, and she finally wants one. The teenager’s day at work seems unprepared and unprofessional. But it will be the start of an international career.

The photos are circulating. The first job offers arrive. The young woman changes the spelling of her name and begins working in the fashion industry as Melania Knauss. Even if she initially sees the work as just a hobby. She actually wants to study architecture. But success in the modeling world shifts her priorities. You have the opportunity to work in the fashion capitals of Europe. She leaves her homeland, moves first to Milan, then to Paris.

Working as a model demanded a lot from her. “Your appearance is constantly being justified.” […] “Surviving in the industry requires a high level of self-confidence, resilience and determination,” writes Melania Trump.

They have experienced setbacks and rejections, but are able to maintain a positive attitude. “Whereas I focused on delivering high quality work. I made sure I was punctual, prepared and professional to give the photographers the shots they wanted.” And it paid off: “By mid-1992, I had built a successful career in Europe.” This is how Melania Trump puts it in her book. But how good was she actually as a model?

Peyman Amin is a presenter and former juror of the casting show “Germany’s Next Top Model”. For t-online he takes a look at Melania Trump’s first modeling photos, in which she is hardly recognizable. How does the expert assess your potential at the beginning of your career? “Rather inconspicuous. I wouldn’t have accepted her into my agency today with that look. “I’m missing that certain something in the photos that makes them stand out from the crowd,” says the 53-year-old.

Peyman Amin remembers what type of model was being asked at that time: “Back then, ‘diversity’ wasn’t an issue; people almost exclusively wanted to see the European type, à la Farrah Fawcett.” However, it was much easier in the eighties and nineties to gain a foothold in the industry. “Today there is significantly more competition,” says Peyman Amin.

Melania Knauss also knows about the designer’s abilities during her career in Europe, she writes in her book: “At that time, the modeling industry preferred a very slim look, especially on the catwalks. As someone with a curvier physique, I focused on commercial modeling, catalog advertising and television commercials.

In the mid-1990s, Melania Trump left Europe and moved to the USA. “I was 26 years old, I had traveled all over Europe, but I had never taken a trip like this,” she writes in her memoirs. That was in August 1996. In New York they will take their career to a new level. And according to her own statements, she manages to do that. She collaborates with big brands and makes it to several magazine covers. She is proud of her success. As does her family, who have supported her from the start.