Shelley already earned over a million dollars
by 1981 as THE Charlie Girl
The 1970s was a turning point for the modeling industry with the dawn of the "exclusive modeling contract". Previously unheard of (and very lucrative) deals were made by certain models with giant cosmetic companies which resulted in a surge in sales and worldwide brand recognition for the companies involved. It turned a handful of models into millionaires, into superstar models, into Supermodels. In 1981, Life magazine listed down the names of these few models who have reached this exclusive Supermodel status. The first models to earn in the millions were Lauren Hutton for Revlon, Iman for Revlon's Polished Ambers line, Karen Graham for Estee Lauder, Cheryl Tiegs for Cover Girl, Christina Ferrare for Bristol-Myers' product lines, Shelley Hack for Charlie by Revlon and Margaux Hemingway for Faberge's Babe line (to note, some of these million-dollar faces had contracts with other companies as well). The mag predicted Carol Alt to be the next million-dollar face; and with the way paved by Lauren, Iman, Karen, Cheryl, Christina, Shelley and Margaux, she became exactly that.
a 1981 writeup about the Best-Selling Beauties
of the '70s and early '80s from Life mag