Chanel Iman

Named after legendary designer Coco Chanel, this hot young model is now blazing her own trail in the fashion world. Meet Chanel Iman, protégée of Tyra Banks and favorite of Galliano and McQueen, who is determined to shake things up with her vibrant personality, cheeky tattoos and modern attitude toward race.

Blessed with a fashionable name ("My mother had just read a book about Coco Chanel and was impressed by how she built her empire") and born in Atlanta to a mother of Korean and African-American heritage and a black father, Chanel Iman Robinson has said she used to dress up as a model for Halloween. "When I was a little girl, I lived for modeling and fashion—I used to love, love, love modeling," she recalls. Thankfully, her mother approved, and when Chanel was just 12, the pair marched into Ford Models' Los Angeles office, and the preteen was signed on the spot.

Talking about those not-far-gone days clearly takes Chanel back, as the sweet teenage girl hidden in the aloof runway model's body starts to emerge: "The first time my friends saw me in a magazine I was so excited," she giggles, recalling a shot that ran in Teen magazine just three years ago. "That was one of my firsts. And everyone came to school with my magazine! They were like, 'Oh my god, can you autograph your picture?' And guys after that were like, 'Oh my god, she's a supermodel. She's so hot.' I was so proud of that picture. I have like a hundred copies of that one magazine."