Elsa Benitez Tribute on ElsaBenitez.com

Tribute to Elsa Benitez

Modeling an orange tank top bikini and a wearing a look of aspiration, Elsa Benitez hit the U.S. fashion scene in 1996 with a sporty fashion shoot in Vogue Magazine . Five years later, Elsa takes the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2001 Issue, once again modeling an orange bikini.

While Sports Illustrated will propel Elsa's name to celebrity status in the United States, the supermodel from Sonora, Mexico has been a mainstay of international fashion modeling since the early 1990s. Metrofashion.com was one of the first online fashion magazines to feature Elsa Benitez (in 1996), and we are thrilled that Sports Illustrated has recognized this spectacular fashion talent.

1990s Elsa Benitez came into the fashion modeling world in the 1990s, during a period when celebrity supermodels from the 1980s like Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Claudia Schiffer, dominated pop media. While the 80s were the decade of flamboyant fashion closely aligned with rock music, minimalism began to take hold in the mid-1990s. Elsa Benitez, along with a new group of top models including Shalom Harlow and Stella Tennant, appeared on the international runways and in fashion spreads in major fashion magazines. Elsa's tall, sleek frame was ideal for the 1990s look.

Fashion Covers During the period of 1995-1998, Elsa Benitez graced the cover of Vogue, Marie Claire, Self Magazine, and many others. In Europe she became well-known, especially through British Vogue, which featured Elsa in fashion spreads throughout the period. In America, her face was seen everywhere (e.g. contact lense advertisements, Jones New York print advertising campaigns, etc.), but like many fashion models, she was relatively unknown.

Through Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and catalog brands like JCrew, American and European topmodels such as Bridget Hall and Latetia Casta rose to fame. It wasn't until Year 2000 when Gisele dominated the runways and Jennifer Lopez rose to pop artist fame that fashion began to take notice of Latin models.

International Fame With Elsa's graceful figure and elegant demeanor, she became a hot commodity on the advertising spokesmodel circuit, and became the spokesmodel for highly respected luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo. The Ferragamo campaign lifted Elsa's fashion profile to new hieights as the company charted an aggressive retailing expansion campaign in Europe and North America, with Elsa Benitez' face out front.

You may know Elsa Benitez from a more local level - she was featured in eyeglass print advertising for Wal-Mart during 1999-2000. With such a wide range of modeling experience, from the catwalks to luxury brands, from sportswear to consumer products, you can expect to see a lot of Elsa Benitez in the future. So if Elsa's name is new to you while her face seems familiar, chances are you have seen that face hundreds of times. Now Sports Illustrated is putting the face to a name.