Kendra Spears is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 fashion model, best known for her participation in the Ford Supermodel Of The World 2008 after winning a modeling contest via MySpace

MySpace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 sponsored by Ford

Ford Models

The Ford Modeling Agency, or as it is known today Ford Models, is a modeling agency in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen and the late Gerard W. Ford.-Company:...

. She is also known for her likeness to American supermodel

Supermodel

The term supermodel refers to a highly-paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in haute couture and commercial modeling. The term became prominent in the popular culture of the 1980s. Supermodels usually work for top fashion designers and labels...

 Cindy Crawford

Cindy Crawford

Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford is an American model. Known for her trademark mole just above her lip, Crawford has adorned hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. She was named #3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s...

.

Early life

Kendra Spears was born on August 5, 1988, in Seattle. Spears graduated from high school from South Kitsap High School . with an Associate's Degree

Associate's degree

An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...

 she acquired through a dual-credit program. She then went off to Portland State University

Portland State University

Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...

 to study Sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

. In January 2008, she was discovered via MySpace

MySpace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

, by Ford Models

Ford Models

The Ford Modeling Agency, or as it is known today Ford Models, is a modeling agency in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen and the late Gerard W. Ford.-Company:...

, and Spears entered into the Supermodel Of The World competition, becoming a finalist. She lost to Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n fashion model Hyoni Kang

Hyoni Kang

Hyoni Kang is a Korean fashion model. She won the 2008 Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest, the first East Asian to do so.She has shot editorials for Interview, Korean Vogue, and Flaunt magazine, appeared on the runway for Marc Jacobs, 3.1 Phillip Lim, and Jason Wu, and appeared in a...

.

Career

Spears landed a contract with Ford Models

Ford Models

The Ford Modeling Agency, or as it is known today Ford Models, is a modeling agency in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen and the late Gerard W. Ford.-Company:...

 after the competition ended. She debuted at New York Fashion Week

New York Fashion Week

The semi-annual New York Fashion Week, branded Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek in 2009, is held in February and September of each year in New York City. It is one of four major fashion weeks held around the world .-History:The first New York Fashion Week, then called Press Week, was the world's first...

 in September 2008, opening the Spring 2009 Trovata

Trovata

Trovata is a Newport Beach, California-based clothing company that specializes in casual contemporary apparel. The clothing line has gained notoriety for combining an East Coast preppy look with a West Coast surfing appeal. Trovata is notorious for their use of buttons and stripes...

 show, also walking for Isaac Mizrahi

Isaac Mizrahi

Isaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...

, L'Wren Scott

L'Wren Scott

L'Wren Scott is an American fashion designer, costume designer, stylist and model known primarily for her long term relationship with singer Mick Jagger.-Personal Life:...

, and Ports 1961. Kendra debuted in Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 by opening the John Richmond show, and walking for Gucci. In her first season in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, she booked shows such as Christian Lacroix

Christian Lacroix

Christian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded.-Early life:Lacroix was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France. At a young age he began sketching historical costumes and fashions. Lacroix graduated from high school in 1969...

, Lanvin

Lanvin (clothing)

Lanvin is a high fashion house founded by Jeanne Lanvin.-History:Lanvin made such beautiful clothes for her daughter that they began to attract the attention of a number of wealthy people who requested copies for their own children...

, and Valentino

Valentino

Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani , best known as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Valentino SpA brand and company. His main lines were Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma, and R.E.D...

.

Shortly after the show season ended in October, Kendra landed a succession of covers from Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 fashion magazine Cover

Cover Magazine

Cover Magazine is an album released by the American band Giant Sand on Thrill Jockey Records in 2001. The title references that 11 of the songs are cover versions.-Track listing:#"El Paso / Out on the Weekend"...

and Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 magazine Amica. The covers were followed by a Dazed & Confused

Dazed & Confused (magazine)

Dazed & Confused is a British style magazine, that was set up in 1992 and published monthly. Its founding editors were Jefferson Hack and Rankin...

editorial featuring new faces of the season, including Spears, Sigrid Agren

Sigrid Agren

Sigrid Agren is a French fashion model from Martinique, and rose to prominence during the Elite Model Look in 2005, at age 14.-Early life:...

 and Anya Kazakova, as well as editorials for V

V (American magazine)

V magazine is an American fashion magazine published since 1999. The magazine is printed seasonally and highlights trends in fashion, film music and art. A men's fashion quarterly entitled VMAN started as an offshoot in 2003.-History:...

 and Vogue Italia

Vogue Italia

Vogue Italia is the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it is the least commercial of all editions of Vogue magazine and has been called the top fashion magazine in the world....

.

For the Fall 2009 season, Kendra became one of the faces of Prada

Prada

Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women , founded by Mario Prada.-Foundations:...

, alongside Ymre Stiekema, Anna de Rijk, and Julia Hafstrom, as well as New Man

New Man

New Man was a prominent American Christian lifestyle men's magazine, founded in 1994, and becoming an online publication in 2008. Its stated purpose is "Helping men to develop Christ-centered perspectives that will transform their lives, their families and their worlds."...

 and Hazzy's. She has been on the covers of Elle France and Vogue China

Vogue China

Vogue China is the Chinese edition of Vogue magazine. The magazine carries a mixture of foreign and local content.Vogue China became the sixteenth edition of Vogue when its first issue was released for September 2005; its debut had been in the works for over two years...

, as well as in ads for Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein

Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....

, Diane von Furstenberg

Diane von Fürstenberg

Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg , is a Belgian-American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg...

, Peek & Cloppenburg

Peek & Cloppenburg

Peek & Cloppenburg is an international chain of fashion department stores. The chain is made up of two separate groups, Peek & Cloppenburg KG Düsseldorf and Peek & Cloppenburg KG Hamburg which operate independently from each other.-History:In 1869, Johann Theodor Peek and Heinrich Anton Adolph...

, Etro

Etro

Etro is an Italian fashion house and manufacturer of fabrics, furnishings and fragrances. It was founded in 1968 by Gimmo Etro. It is still a family business, with menswear headed since 1990 by Kean Etro, while his sister, Veronica, directs womenswear...

, and The Limited.