Christy Turlington

Christy Turlington
Name	Christy Turlington
Birth date	1969-01-02
Birth place	Walnut Creek, California, United States
Occupation	Model; filmmaker; humanitarian; entrepreneur
Years active	1980s–present
Spouse	Edward Burns

Christy Turlington is an American model, filmmaker, and maternal health advocate who rose to international prominence in the late 1980s and 1990s. Known for runway work with luxury fashion houses and iconic advertising campaigns, she later transitioned to documentary filmmaking and global health activism, partnering with international agencies and philanthropic organizations. Her multidisciplinary career spans fashion capitals, film festivals, global health conferences, and social enterprises.

Early life and education

Born in Walnut Creek, California, she was raised in a family connected to San Francisco, Nicaragua, and London, with early schooling that included institutions near University of California, Berkeley, Brentwood School (Los Angeles), and educational influences from teachers linked to New York University and Goldsmiths, University of London. Her early training in ballet drew connections to dance programs associated with American Ballet Theatre and youth arts organizations that collaborate with Juilliard School and Royal Ballet School. Exposure to cultural centers in Paris, Milan, and Tokyo during adolescence prefaced later studies in public health at institutions aligned with Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and academic partners like Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and University of Oxford through later continuing education programs.

Modeling career

Her runway and editorial work included collaborations with designers and fashion houses such as Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Versace, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Valentino S.p.A., Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Thierry Mugler, Lanvin, Tom Ford, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Hermès, Fendi, Balenciaga (fashion house), Stella McCartney, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Salvatore Ferragamo, Kenzo, Issey Miyake, Vivienne Westwood, Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent (brand), Moschino, Jil Sander, Céline, Hugo Boss, and Lancome campaigns. Photographers who shot her included Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Ellen von Unwerth, Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber, David Bailey, Tim Walker, Juergen Teller, Corinne Day, Nick Knight, and Sølve Sundsbø. She was featured on covers of magazines such as Vogue (magazine), Elle (magazine), Harper's Bazaar, W Magazine, Rolling Stone, Time (magazine), Newsweek, GQ (magazine), Vanity Fair (magazine), The New Yorker, People (magazine), Cosmopolitan, Glamour (magazine), Marie Claire, Allure (magazine), Esquire (magazine), i-D (magazine), Dazed (magazine), Purple (magazine), and Paper (magazine). Her status as a supermodel of the 1990s placed her among peers linked to Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss, Helena Christensen, Eva Herzigová, Claudia Schiffer, Tyra Banks, Paulina Porizkova, Iman (model), Shalom Harlow, and Carla Bruni. She walked major fashion weeks in Milan Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week, and London Fashion Week and appeared in advertising for fragrance houses like Estée Lauder, Chanel No. 5, and Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue.

Film and television work

She expanded into film and television with documentary and broadcast collaborations that connected her to filmmakers and festivals such as Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, HBO, BBC, National Geographic (American TV channel), PBS, CNN, ABC (American Broadcasting Company), NBC, and CBS. Her directorial work and producing credits involved teams with subject-matter experts often associated with World Health Organization, United Nations Population Fund, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH, Save the Children, Oxfam, and Doctors Without Borders. She participated in panel discussions alongside figures from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UNICEF, and academic speakers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Humanitarian and health advocacy

Her advocacy for maternal health led to founding or co-founding initiatives and alliances that work with UNICEF, United Nations, World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Foundation, Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, USAID, Médecins Sans Frontières, and national ministries in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. She has delivered addresses at forums including World Economic Forum, United Nations General Assembly, Royal Society, and conferences hosted by The Lancet and partnered on research and programs with institutions like Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of California, San Francisco. Her campaigns emphasized safe childbirth practices, midwifery, and reproductive health services, often liaising with professional bodies such as the International Confederation of Midwives and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Business ventures and entrepreneurship

She launched business and lifestyle ventures that intersect fashion, wellness, and social entrepreneurship, collaborating with brands, designers, and investors associated with Net-a-Porter, Farfetch, Everlane, Goop, LVMH, Kering, Estée Lauder Companies, Shiseido, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nike, Inc., Adidas, Peloton (company), and wellness platforms drawing advisors from Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Mount Sinai Health System. Her production company worked with distributors and partners linked to Netflix, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, Hulu, BBC Studios, and independent production houses that screen at SXSW and international film markets such as those in Berlin International Film Festival and Venice Film Festival.

Personal life

Her personal life connects to figures in film and arts, with family ties and residences in cities including New York City, Los Angeles, London, and Paris. She is married to Edward Burns and has children who have attended schools linked to institutions like The Dalton School, Convent of the Sacred Heart (New York), and extracurricular programs connected to Juilliard School and LaGuardia High School. Her social and philanthropic networks include relationships with peers from UNICEF USA, Red Cross, and arts organizations like Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, and Tate Modern.

Awards and recognition

Her career has earned honors and recognition from fashion, film, and humanitarian institutions, with accolades from Council of Fashion Designers of America, British Fashion Council, Time 100, Forbes, Vogue (magazine), Women Deliver, Skoll Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and film awards presented at Sundance Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. She has been listed in rankings and retrospectives alongside figures such as Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani, and cultural commentators from The New York Times and The Guardian.

Category:American female models Category:American documentary filmmakers Category:Living people Category:1969 births