Amber Valletta was a major 1990s supermodel who worked for top designers such as Versace and DKNY.
And the 5ft10in catwalk veteran had a major contract with Calvin Klein.
The 51-year-old also graced the cover of Vogue dozens of times, often with her equally photogenic friend Shalom Harlow.
In the 2000s, Valletta began to focus on her career as an actress.
She had her first major film role as a poltergeist in Robert Zemeckis’ supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath (2000) with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Then the blonde appeared in films such as Hitch (2005), Transporter 2 (2005), Man About Town (2006), Dead Silence (2007), Gamer (2009), and The Spy Next Door (2010).
Amber Valletta was a major 1990s supermodel who worked for top designers and appeared on the cover of Vogue dozens of times
She was a blonde bombshell in these early 2000s Versace ads
In 2011, she moved to television, appearing in a recurring role as the fallen socialite Lydia Davis on ABC’s drama television series Revenge.
In 2015, Valletta starred as the scheming Carla Briggs in another ABC soap opera, Blood & Oil.
In 2020 she discussed her past addiction to drugs and alcohol as she celebrated 25 years of sobriety.
In an interview with NET-A-PORTER’s digital title, Porter, the model and actress credited ditching her abuse with substance to saving her life.
The star candidly told the publication: ‘Left to my own devices, I guarantee you no matter how much I love life, my family, if I take a drink or any of my drugs of choice, I’ll be dead. I’ll ruin everything.’
Catwalk queen Amber first opened up about her dependency issues in July 2014, when she revealed she was introduced to drugs at the tender age of 10, and started using cocaine at 18.
On being proud to be clean, the former face of Giorgio Armani admitted: ‘I didn’t have a problem when I was out using, if you saw me high or drunk.
‘So why would I be ashamed of being clean and saying, ‘I have a disease that I can’t control’? Only by being sober do I have any chance of survival.’
‘Being sober do I have any chance of survival’: The catwalk queen previously revealed she was introduced to drugs at the tender age of 10, and started using cocaine at 18 (pictured in 1990)
Topless on the cover of a French magazine, left, and in a bikini for Shape magazine, right
The supermodel rose to prominence in the 90s, with the beauty gracing 16 American Vogue covers, serving as an ambassador for Versace, and securing multi-million contracts with Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden.
On adapting a ‘sisterhood’ with the likes of Kate Moss and Shalom Harlow, the TV and film star recalled: ‘Nobody was thinking about whether we were making a statement.
‘You’d fight with each other, cry with each other, support each other, lose jobs to each other, all of it.’
The media personality went on to highlight the differences within the fashion industry in today’s age, admitting she loathes the current ‘selfie’ era.
Amber explained: ‘You would never have taken your Polaroid camera and turned it around on yourself. You would never have talked about how you were flying around in a private jet.
‘That’s why when Linda [Evangelista] made that one statement [‘I never get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day’], it was huge. People talk like that all the time on Instagram now. People who don’t even do anything!
‘[Selfies] make me painfully uncomfortable. I want things to change – that’s all I care about now.’
On the early beginnings of her career, she admitted she felt ‘disconnected’ from the world, but now makes it her mission to live her truth.
The Blood & Oil actress shared: ‘I started modeling at 15. I started feeling a big disconnect. I couldn’t quite work out what it was. I vacillated from being melancholy to being overwhelmed with anxiety to partying.
Amber is seen far left with Twiggy, Paulina Porizkova and Cindy Crawford in a behind the scenes shot from a Zara ad
Seen in a DKNY ad with Cindy and Linda Evangelista as well as Carolyn Murphy
‘You support each other’: The TV and film star spoke about adapting a ‘sisterhood’ with the likes of Kate Moss (pictured in 2018) and Shalom Harlow
‘I want to be the person that I aspire to be. I don’t want to talk it, I want to live it. I want to allow myself the space to have bad days, be sad, be mad, be loving and accepting of others.
‘Even people that I don’t think are right. It’s hard to do, but I want to move through the world as gently as I can.’
Since her time in the spotlight, Amber has become somewhat of an activist, serving as the spokesperson for Oceana’s Seafood Contamination Campaign.
In November, she was arrested by Capitol police and charged with blocking traffic while demonstrating alongside Jane Fonda during her weekly climate change protest in Washington, DC.
Sticking by her actions, the blonde explained: ‘I chose to get arrested. I’ve been feeling this need to get loud, to step into my own. I don’t care what anyone thinks.
‘I can’t sit on the sidelines, I need to physically put myself on the line. I chose to get arrested as a symbol. My life is worth putting out there, in order to show that all our lives are worth fighting for.’
Valletta at the Saint Laurent Womenswear Fall/Winter 2025-2026 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on March 11
On putting her beliefs in the forefront, the mother-of-one elaborated: ‘I believe in this. I will risk public opinion, being in jail. It was profound.
‘This is the most important crisis we’re facing. I’m not diminishing cancer or Aids, diabetes or addiction, but there won’t be anything left to fight for. Nothing else matters.’
Amber – who shares son Auden, 25, with ex husband Chip McCaw – admitted she ‘wants to cry’ whenever she thinks about climate change and the future of our planet.
She added: ‘I’ll be dead, but my great-grandkids? To live in a world where they wouldn’t experience this. Where they couldn’t see elephants or a whale.
‘The ocean could be disgusting and full of plastic; you can’t eat fish, go to a beach, see coral; you can’t have the opportunity to be doctors or scientists or creators. We take it for granted. It’s overwhelmingly ridiculous.’
To see the full interview with Amber Valletta, read Porter here. You can download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android.
