In her early career, there were many comparisons drawn to her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot. She has appeared on over 700 magazine covers and continues to front global campaigns for luxury fashion and fragrance houses. In 2002, Forbes estimated her net worth at about US$55 million (£38 million).
Schiffer was born in Rheinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, a small town 15 km northwest of Duisburg. She is the daughter of Gudrun and Heinz Schiffer, a lawyer.She has two brothers, Stefan and Andreas, and one sister, Ann Carolin.
Schiffer said she was popular in high school but has revealed that because she was so tall she became very shy and did not want to be noticed. She was also subjected to jealousy by others as she came from a wealthy family that was well-known locally.
Schiffer is fluent in 3 languages – German, English and French.
She originally wanted to become a lawyer and used to work in her father's law firm. She later dropped these aspirations when, in October 1987 at seventeen, she was spotted in a nightclub in Düsseldorf by Michel Levaton, the boss of Metropolitan Model Agency who signed her up to become a model.
Schiffer completed her education and then began to work as a model. She flew out to Paris for a trial photo shoot and soon after she appeared on the cover of French Elle after being well received in Paris. In the early 90's she starred in the highly Publicity Guess? Jeans campaigns.
Paul Marciano said in E! Forbes Top 15 Supermodel Beauties Who Made Bank, "Guess name became really much more known around the world because [of] Claudia". After several other magazine appearances including the cover of British Vogue shot by Herb Ritts, Schiffer quickly achieved supermodel status and was selected by Karl Lagerfeld to become the new face of Chanel.
She went on to become world-famous, instantly recognizable with her blue eyes, blonde hair and tall figure, standing at 1.81m (approx. 5 ft 11 in.).
Schiffer appeared on the November 1999 Millennium cover of American Vogue as one of the "Modern Muses". Named as one of the most beautiful women in the world, her ability to appeal to a global audience has assured an internationally successful career spanning over 24 years.
Schiffer was the first model to make the covers of Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and People and has appeared numerous times on covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Time. Schiffer has appeared on the catwalk for numerous fashion houses, including Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel and Valentino.
As well as endorsing luxury brands, Schiffer has appeared as the face of high street retailers including Mango and Accessorize, and had her ears pierced for the first time especially for the 2006 Autumn/Winter Accessorize campaign. She has also featured in commercials for Pepsi and Fanta. From her appearances in a 1998 Citroën advertisement she allegedly earned £3 million. Schiffer still holds a contract with L'Oréal and is one of their longest standing ambassadors.
Karl Lagerfeld photographed Schiffer for a Dom Pérignon campaign, around 17 years after her first appearance for Chanel. Schiffer has appeared in recent campaigns for YSL, Chanel, Salvatore Ferragamo and Dolce & Gabbana.
She is signed to a few agencies solely for her modeling interests including d'management group in Milan, 1/One Management in New York City and Marilyns in Paris. Her mother agency is Model Management in Hamburg.
Schiffer was a judge on Fashion Fringe 2011.
In 2012, she posed again for Guess black and white ads marking the brand's 30th anniversary.
Recognized as a global fashion icon with her style appreciated by women around the world,
Schiffer launched her eponymous cashmere collection during Paris Fashion Week in March 2011. The Autumn–Winter 2011 season saw her fashion design debut and has been followed by a successful Spring–Summer 2012 collection.
The collection is sold globally in key department stores and high-end boutiques. Schiffer is the Creative Director of the brand and the driving force behind its design.
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