Discovered by Steven Meisel in the early 1990s, Frankie literally burst onto the scene, becoming a favorite cover and runway girl, and getting signed to dozens of major campaigns almost immediately.
Residence: New York, NY, US
Hometown: River Falls, WI, US
Height: 5'10"
Eye Color: Blue-green
Agency:
IMG
Campaigns:
Carolina Herrera, Celine, Chanel, DKNY, Dolce & Gabbana, Eres, Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Roberto Cavalli, Stella McCartney, Tommy Hilfiger, Valentino, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Gucci Fragrance, Versace
Full Bio
Hide Bio
With her breathtaking figure and strong looks, it’s no wonder that Frankie Rayder has been a top model since she burst onto the scene in the early 1990s.
Francesca “Frankie” Rayder was born on January 26, 1975, in River Falls, Wisconsin, a small college town near the Minnesota border. She grew up there and never even thought of becoming a model. As a teenager, she was spotted by a talent scout in Minneapolis, the closest big city to her hometown. Frankie’s big break came in 1992, when she met legendary photographer Steven Meisel. He was blown away by her exotic beauty and immediately booked her for a photo session, the first of many together. A photo from that shoot ended up on the cover of Italian Glamour.
Frankie’s career took off at a gallop, and she has worked with everyone: Givenchy, Valentino, Lagerfeld, Chanel, Celine, Gucci, J. Mendel, Mondi, Dolce & Gabbana, Dia, Versace, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Fendi, Missoni, Alexander McQueen, Versus, Stella McCartney, Blumarine, Chloe, Givenchy, Marni, Viktor & Rolf, Moschino, La Perla, Roberto Cavalli, Costume National, and MaxMara. She has appeared on the covers of The Face, Elle, Allure, Harper’s Bazaar, and the Spanish, American, German, French, British, and Italian editions of Vogue. Frankie was also a feature model in the big-budget 2004 Pirelli calendar. She was one of the models in the 50-model 50th-anniversary campaign for Ann Taylor, photographed by Annie Leibowitz.
Frankie walked in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and she also appeared in the 2005 and 2006 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. Frankie led the holiday campaigns for Gap, in which she appeared alongside her sister Missy, another mega-model. Their sister Molly is also a sometime model—so good genes clearly run in this family.
On October 26, 2005, Frankie gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Sunny Bebop Balzary, with fiancé Michael Balzary, better known as Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She took a break from modeling between 2004 and 2008, returning to print in 2008 and to the runway in February 2009 for the autumn collections.
