Elaine Irwin (born August 26, 1969) is an American model. She was the face of Almay Cosmetics and

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for founding the brand Ralph Lauren (brand), Ralph Lauren, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He stepped do ...

Early life and career

Elaine Irwin was born in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. She left home when she was 16 to pursue a modeling career and was discovered by photographer Paul Pelak and his wife Margaret while enrolled at

John Casablancas John Casablancas (December 12, 1942 – July 20, 2013) was an American modeling agent and scout who founded Elite Model Management. Casablancas is remembered for his development of the supermodel concept. He was the father of the Strokes front ...

in 1985. After her photo appeared in '' Seventeen'' in 1985, the Boyertown honor student and varsity letter-winner in track and cross country was a much sought-after face for magazine covers,

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically us ...

and

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

. In 1989 she appeared in the music video for New Order's '' Round & Round'' off their 1989 album ''

Technique Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s * Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by ...

''. Within a few years, she became one of the

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. History 20th century Eileen and Jerry began the bu ...

and had appeared on the cover of dozens of fashion magazines, including ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', '' Glamour'', ''

Self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

'' and ''Elite''. Her American Beauty ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' cover was shot by

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

. She made her move onto the runway for

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

, Thierry Mugler, Versace, Prada and

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

and soon became a favorite subject of photographers

Herb Ritts Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on b ...

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clie ...

, and

Steven Meisel Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in '' Vogue'' and '' Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, '' Sex''. He is ...

for her natural, soft look. Irwin became the first woman to drive the

pace car In motorsport, a safety car, or a pace car, is a car that limits the speed of competing cars or motorcycles on a racetrack in the case of a ''caution period,'' such as an obstruction on the track or bad weather. The safety car aims to enable th ...

at the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

in May 2001. She was also an at-large delegate to the

2004 Democratic National Convention The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts for president and Senator John Edwards from North ...

. Also in 2004, it was announced that Almay Cosmetics, owned by Revlon, selected Elaine as their spokesmodel and signed her to a seven year contract to represent the brand.

Personal life

Elaine was 23 years old when she married musician

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

on September 5, 1992. The two met when she was hired to appear on the cover of Mellencamp's ''

Whenever We Wanted ''Whenever We Wanted'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp, and the first of his to be credited simply to Mellencamp's given name (i.e., without "Cougar" in the name). The album reached the top ...

'' album (and appear in the music video for "Get A Leg Up"). Within 10 weeks, they were engaged. They have two sons. On December 30, 2010, it was announced that she and Mellencamp were separating after eighteen years of marriage, but both chose to stay in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

to raise their two children. On January 14, 2011, John Mellencamp filed for divorce and requested that Elaine be returned to her maiden name 'Irwin'. On August 12, 2011, their divorce was finalized. In October 2012, Irwin became engaged to racecar team owner and media businessman

Jay Penske Jay Penske (born May 5, 1979) is an American businessman best known for creating the media company Penske Media Corporation. Early life and education Born in New York City, New York, Penske is the youngest son of Kathy, an English school teac ...

. They had a daughter in May 2013. She has resided in California since 2013.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Elaine 1969 births Living people 21st-century American women Female models from Pennsylvania IMG Models models People from Douglass Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania