If you’re even remotely familiar with the modelling business, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Christy, Cindy, Linda, Naomi and Tatjana—the big five—the OG supermodels. Even today, you may come across names such as Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid since these supermodels hold a prominent role in our media and culture. Nevertheless, do we truly recognise every well-known face? Well, the short answer is no. The ‘most famous model’ in the world is a face that nobody actually knows.
Meet Ariane, the woman nicknamed the ‘Overexposed Model’ by the internet. Despite being someone who is supposed to be ‘overexposed,’ her identity remained obscure. You may wonder, therefore, how in the world is she the most famous model? With her as the face behind a thousand ads, she has endorsed everything from jewellery to vacations, music, exercise, and cereal to cameras, job listings, and healthcare treatments.
With the rise of the internet, Ariane became a global star, and every brand wanted her as their face. Ariane is an American fashion model who has been a part of many advertisements all throughout her life.
Despite being one of the most famous models in the world, very little is known about her, not even her full name. A little profile was written about her by Esquire Philippines in 2013, however, she declined to share her last name during the email conversation.
All that is known is that her mother is from China, and her dad is a French-Canadian. She got her big break in modelling in 2005 when she started taking pictures for stock photos and quickly became one of the most popular models of the medium.
Ariane soon became a stock photo model. It is likely that most people who have used stock photos for their projects might have used Ariane’s face, as her pictures were always available.
Despite being immensely popular, very few people know her name. The model is often seen embracing the unlikely limelight she has received because of social media.
There’s even a whole Tumblr dedicated to sightings—on websites, in apps, on billboards, everywhere. On her Instagram page, the model has mentioned in her bio: ” Photographer/videographer I’m the girl smiling at you in ads all over the world.”
Apart from that, it has been found that Ariane also re-shares a lot of these advertisements when people send them to her on social media.
It is no understatement to say that Ariane can be seen everywhere, and it is highly likely that when you spot her, she’s smiling back at you from a billboard.