A supermodel is a highly-paid elite fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in haute couture and commercial modeling. She has become so well known that she has acheived celebrity status.

There is no set standard of what constitutes a supermodel and those standards change over time. The term itself is somewhat a media creation. However, the elite models who are given the appellation of "supermodel" often share similar traits. These models usually work for top fashion designers and labels, such as Chanel, Prada, and Gucci. Supermodels often parlay their celebrity into product endorsement deals and acting careers.

The term "supermodel" took hold in the popular culture of the 1980s and 1990s. However, according to Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women by Michael Gross, the first known use of the term "supermodel" was in the 1940s by an agent named Clyde Matthew Dessner in a "how-to" book he wrote about modeling.

Although Janice Dickinson has been known to credit herself as being the first supermodel, Lisa Fonssagrives is considered by most in the industry to actually fill that position.

Fonssagrives was in most of the major fashion and general interest magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s, including Town & Country, Life, Vogue, the original Vanity Fair, and Time.

In 1968, an article in Glamour described Twiggy, Cheryl Tiegs, Veruschka, Jean Shrimpton and fifteen other top models as "supermodels". The term supermodel gained currency in the 1960s by analogy with Andy Warhol's "Superstars". Of the prominent models of the 1960s, "Twiggy" (Lesley Hornby) is an example of a supermodel of the era, as is Donyale Luna, the first African American model on the cover of Vogue.

The top supermodels of the 1970s were Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs.

The prominence of supermodels increased in the 1980s, with models such as Claudia Schiffer, Tatjana Patitz, Elle Macpherson, and Cindy Crawford. By the 1990s, which has been called "era of the supermodels", supermodels were prominient in the media. During this period, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington, were called the "trinity" of top supermodels. Of the supermodels of this period, Tyra Banks is notable as the first African-American model on the cover of GQ Magazine, the Sports Illustrated "Swimsuit Issue", and the Victoria's Secret catalog. Beverly Peele graced over 250 magazine covers and was first black model on the cover of Mademoiselle Magazine in 1989.

The lingerie company "Victoria's secret" has its own group of supermodels, including Alessandra Ambrosio, Heidi Klum, Karolina Kurkova, Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, and Tyra Banks.