Kelly Kay Emberg (born July 2, 1959) is an American former model who appeared in the ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted c ...

'' and in advertisements for

Cover Girl A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a maga ...

cosmetics, Napier Jewelry, and

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

Career

Emberg was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and attended Stratford High School, where she was a member of the school's female drill team, the Spartanaires. She was a cheerleader in her senior year with partner Kelly Bittner. She modeled part-time during high school after being "discovered" by Alan Martin, a local photographer in Houston who introduced her to John Casablancas. Casablancas brought her to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to join his new agency

Elite Model Management Elite Model Management (MM) refers to two independent chain modeling agencies that originated as one in Paris, France in 1972 with subsequent locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London and Toronto. In 2004, the agencies in New York, Miami, ...

, where her print career took off. She appeared on the covers of ''Vogue'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Glamour'' and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazines. Her first cover was for British ''Vogue'' photographed by Alex Chatelain. She also appeared numerous times in the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' and in advertisements for Cover Girl cosmetics, Napier Jewelry, and

. After her modeling career, Emberg attended UCLA for three years studying interior design. She worked for interior designer Michael S. Smith and owns The Cotton Box, with a shop on Melrose Avenue,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. Her biggest client is

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

. Emberg created the interior designs for the guest house on his Los Angeles estate in which Ruby, along with

Kimberly Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a c ...

and

Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán ( anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; an ...

, Stewart's children by Alana Hamilton, live. Emberg's interest in gardening created her current career as Kelly Emberg: The Model Gardener, in which she provides advice and encourages people to grow their own organic vegetables.

Personal life

Emberg began dating singer

in 1983. The couple had one child, a daughter,

Ruby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapp ...

, born June 17, 1987 in Los Angeles. In the summer of 1990, the couple split. Stewart insisted it was Emberg's decision to break off the relationship: "She had another geezer". He later mentioned in his autobiography the reason for the breakup was due to his continued unfaithfulness and he also met future wife Rachel Hunter. Emberg filed a palimony suit in early 1991, which was settled in 1993 for an undisclosed amount.

References

External links

Kelly Emberg
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emberg, Kelly 1959 births Living people Models from Houston Female models from Texas UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni Family of Rod Stewart