The tragic story of 1990s supermodel sisters Nicky and Chrissy Taylor Stars

In the 1990s, Nicki became one of the most famous supermodels. She walked the catwalk of the most famous brands, played on endless covers, and billboards with her face decorated Times Square. Chrissy followed in her footsteps.

Niki Taylor was born on March 5, 1975 in Florida. She had a sister, Chrissy, who was three years younger.

When Niki was 13, her mother took several modeling pictures of her daughter while on vacation in Mexico. Nicky liked to pose. She later recalled realizing she wanted to do this for the rest of her life. The girl spent her pocket money on glossy magazines to practice posing and improve her skills. Meanwhile, my mother sent Nicky’s photos to modeling agencies.

The fashion world did not immediately accept it. Niki recalled that she was often rejected because she did not fit the requirements.

“I was told that I was ‘too young’, that they were looking for a more European type, that I was ‘too commercial,'” recalls Niki in an interview with Fashionista.

In the end, however, luck smiled on her. An agency in Miami Beach, which previously rejected Nicky, offered her cooperation this time.

From that moment on, the young model’s professional career developed rapidly. First, she started taking photos for catalogs, then she won the Fresh Faces modeling competition in New York, followed by a $500,000 modeling contract. At the age of 14, Nicky appeared on the cover of Seventeen magazine. And the following year she was already on the cover of Vogue, making her the second youngest model after Brooke Shields to achieve such success.

The secret of Taylor’s popularity lay in the image of a simple American girl next door – kind but self-confident, sociable and open. She was nicknamed “Baby Cindy” for her resemblance to Cindy Crawford.

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Nicky’s younger sister Chrissy, who was 11 years old at the time, also started going on set with her. The girls were noticed by photographers who began to shoot her and often offered their sisters to pose together. Soon Chrissy also starred in Seventeen. And her career took off. Arriving at Milan fashion week with her sister, she quickly found herself on the catwalk – and so began her full-fledged professional career. Chrissy began to constantly participate in fashion shows, did not leave the glossy covers, and soon, like her sister, signed a contract with the largest modeling agency IMG.

At the same time, Niki continued to set fashion records: at the age of 16, she became the new face of L’Oréal, making her the youngest model ever to have a multi-million deal with the brand. In 1992, she made history with CoverGirl by becoming the first model under the age of 18 to sign a major contract with the brand.

One after another, advertising campaigns for hatch fashion houses took place with her participation: Thierry Mugler, Escada, Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace, Anne Klein and others.

Niki moved around supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Christy Turlington and the next day she was already living the life of an ordinary high school girl.

“I always came back home, I didn’t move to New York or Los Angeles to go to school and play sports and be normal. The family helped me not to forget my roots, to remember who I really am,” Niki recalled.

When Nicky was 18, she met ex-footballer Matt Martinez. Three months later, they eloped to Las Vegas to get married. The following year, Nicki gave birth to twins.

The birth was difficult and she was prescribed painkillers. Taylor recalled that this was a turning point that changed her life – she now knew how to cope not only with physical pain, but also with stress.

As her marriage began to crumble, Niki faced yet another tragedy. She was 20 years old when she found 17-year-old Chrissy on the floor of her family’s home in Florida.

Although asymptomatic, the model’s younger sister died of a rare heart condition, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVC).

“The biggest tragedy and loss in my life was the death of my younger sister. We were very close. We worked together. We did everything together. I miss her so much,” Nicki later said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In an effort to cope with the loss, Niki began taking prescription painkillers again. And he gradually became addicted to them.

However, the work continued. In May 1996, she simultaneously appeared on the covers of six magazines: Allure, Vogue, ELLE, Marie Claire, Self and Shape.

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Just six years after losing her sister, Nicky nearly died herself in a car accident. Her boyfriend was driving her home from a club on a rainy night when he hit a pole.

“He wasn’t going fast at all and I thought I was fine until I got out of the car and felt a terrible pain in my stomach. I was taken to the hospital. The doctors found out that the seat belt had torn my liver in half, I had internal bleeding,” Niki recalled.

The model also suffered a lung injury. In the next 24 hours after the accident, she underwent three operations – and twice died on the operating table. Medical staff managed to bring her back to life, but it was only the beginning of a long and difficult recovery.

Over the next three years, Niki underwent over 50 surgeries and had two steel rods implanted in her back. And again, her best helpers were prescription painkillers.

In 2001, Niki moved to Tennessee with her sons. And the next year, 2002, she met country singer Keith Urban. Their relationship quickly became serious. They even made a couple tattoos – the inscriptions “Love conquers all.” And Nicky starred in Urban’s video for his song Somebody Like You.

During the same period, Taylor began to expand her career, founding her own company, Begin Enterprises, Inc., launching a perfume line, a clothing boutique, and a charity division.

Nicky and Urban lived together for two years before breaking up. The reason was the excessive employment of both – according to Nika, they rarely saw each other.

Urban married Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman in 2006. That same year, Nicki married former NASCAR driver Bernie Lamar, whom she had met at a book signing just a few months earlier. They had two children: daughter Sil and son Rex.

Niki tried her hand as an actress and returned to the modeling business in 2016, starring in Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

“I laugh a lot. I focus on the positive. And I enjoy every moment,” Taylor says of herself today.

After surviving several tragedies, Niki definitely learned to enjoy life.

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