At Milan Fashion Week, Donatella Versace floored all when she raised the curtains to unveil the finale to her electric Spring/Summer ’18 show: Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen and Carla Bruni. The original supers, clad in gold and posing like the Greek goddesses they are. The crowd went wild, the cameras went wild, Instagram went wild for days.

The reunion had us thinking about the nineties a.k.a. the era of the supermodel. Whether it was Kate, Naomi, Cindy, Claudia or Christy, it was the era where the model became the celebrity. The cameras followed her on the runway, but they also followed her after she stepped out of the show shoes and into her own duds. Slip dresses, tartans, bell-bottomed jeans – these women formed part of the pinnacle of the style that defined the nineties. The fact that we’re still reposting them today is evidence of our obsession.

The idea of the model-off-duty continues today, perhaps even more so with the explosion of street style in the last decade and our age of Instagram and reality television. When a model steps out of a show, an entire wave of photographers follow. Anyone in-between best get out of the way stat. But what about the style? Sure – materials have evolved, pairings more unexpected, details far more relevant to today. We are talking two decades ahead of the nineties, after all. But at the heart of it? The same insouciance, the same unexpected mix of femininity with masculinity, the same sense of effortless. And, oh yes, the same preference for denim and leather.

If you’re dry on inspiration for the coming fall, look to our gallery of model-off-duty style across the decades. We even threw in some from the fifties to the seventies, because an off-duty Twiggy, Lauren Hutton and Penelope Tree is always appreciated.

THEN

NOW

What To Read Next: Chanel’s Plastic Extravaganza Makes Us Want To Walk In The Rain, Micro-Trend Alert: Everything’s Coming Up Sheer For Spring and In Defence of The Glossy Lip | Collage: Desiree Liew