John Casablancas

John Casablancas (December 12, 1942 – July 20, 2013) was an American modeling agent and scout who founded Elite Model Management. He is credited with "inventing the supermodel". He was also the father of the Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas.

At age 42, while married to model Jeanette Christiansen, Casablancas began dating 14-year-old Stephanie Seymour. At age 50, Casablancas married his third wife, 17-year-old Aline Mendonça de Carvalho Wermelinger. In 2002, Casablancas was accused of sexual assault of a minor in a lawsuit by a former model.

Casablancas was friends with future U.S. president Donald Trump, representing Trump's daughter Ivanka when she became a fashion model at age 15. After he died in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 2013 at age 70, The Guardian published an obituary stating, "Casablancas was frank about his personal preference for girls of only just legal age – 'child women'." In 2020, The Guardian reported that he was connected to Jeffrey Epstein. According to a 2019 lawsuit, Casablancas sent a 15-year-old female model to meet a photographer later identified as Epstein, who sexually assaulted her.

Early life

John Casablancas was born in Manhattan, New York City, on December 12, 1942. He was the youngest of three children of Fernando and Antonia Casablancas, a banker and former model, respectively, and grandson of Spanish

Career

After pursuing several career options, Casablancas was offered a job in Brazil by a family friend to work as a marketing manager for a Coca-Cola factory. After several years he returned to Europe and worked at an architecture company. In collaboration with a fellow Le Rosey alumnus, Casablancas founded Elite Model Management, a modeling agency, in Paris in 1972.[2] He had previously run the Paris-based agency Model Agency Elysée 3, which he founded in 1969.[3] Clients of Elite included Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Andie MacDowell and Claudia Schiffer.[4] Casablancas is credited with "inventing the supermodel."[5] He was also criticized for his habit of engaging in sexual activity with young and underage clients.[2]

Grace Jones, in her autobiography, quotes Casablancas telling her "Trying to sell a black model in Paris, is like trying to sell an old car no one wants to buy." which she describes as industry discrimination.[6]

During the years that Casablancas ran the operations, Elite grossed over $100 million in annual model bookings.[2] It also generated controversy, with investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre making a BBC television exposé which resulted in the resignation of two Elite executives. Casablancas gave an "unconditional apology" for their behaviour.[7] A sales director sued for unfair dismissal and was awarded $4.3 million.[5] The annual Look of the Year events (later Elite Model Look), at which young women could win a $150,000 modeling contract with Elite, were later criticized by The Guardian newspaper for providing an opportunity for Casablancas and other judges such as David Copperfield and Donald Trump to proposition contestants.[8] In 2003, the Los Angeles County Superior Court dismissed a case of sexual abuse brought against Casablancas by a former Look of the Year contestant because he was not a resident of California.[8]

Having sold his shares in Elite in 2000, Casablancas set up the Star System management agency and Illusion 2K, a cyber model agency.[2][5]

birth date	December 12, 1942
birth place	New York City, U.S.
death date	July 20, 2013
death place	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
occupation	Model agent · entrepreneur
spouse	Marie Christine (m. 1965-1970) Jeanette Christiansen (m. 1979-1983) Aline Wermelinger (m. 1993)
children	5, including Julian

Early life

Career

Sexual misconduct

Personal life and death

Media

References