How did Paolo Zampolli’s Metropolitan Models operate in the 1990s and who else did it sponsor to the United States?
Executive summary
Paolo Zampolli operated in New York’s 1990s modeling world as a scout-turned-agent who founded ID Models (often conflated with or referred to as Metropolitan Models in later reporting) and who is widely credited with bringing Melania Knauss to the U.S. modeling circuit in the mid‑1990s [1] [2] [3]. Reporting describes a business that mixed talent scouting, international contests and visa facilitation, represented several named models, and later pivoted into real estate and diplomatic life — but the documentary record in the provided sources is uneven and contested [4] [5] [6].
1. Origins and structure: ID Models, “Metropolitan” labeling, and the Look of the Year
Zampolli relocated to New York in the mid‑1990s and founded ID Models in Manhattan, an agency said to have specialized in scouting international talent and using early web tools to market models, with the agency later operating through roughly 2008 before Zampolli divested his fashion interests [3] [4]. Contemporary profiles and retrospectives note he organized international scouting events such as a 1994 Look of the Year contest in Ibiza, positioning him inside an industry pipeline that sent European talent to American markets [2] [7]. Reporting sometimes uses “Metropolitan Models” and “ID Models” interchangeably when describing his 1990s activities, which has created terminological confusion across sources [2] [8].
2. How the operation functioned in practical terms: scouting, contests and visas
Several accounts describe Zampolli’s model of discovery as a blend of European scouting, placement through contests or agency representation, and facilitation of work opportunities in the United States; some reporting goes further to say he “cornered the visa angle,” arranging U.S. entry for foreign models, though the exact legal mechanisms and documentation in specific cases are not fully documented in the available sources [7] [1]. The New York Times and PassBlue characterize Zampolli as a professional agent who cultivated careers — notably Melania Knauss’s — and organized industry events that connected models with U.S. opportunities [2] [5]. Claims that visa arrangements mirrored broader industry abuses appear in opinion and investigatory pieces but are not proven in detail in the cited reporting [7].
3. Who else he sponsored or represented: named models and industry clients
Sources explicitly identify Melania Knauss (later Melania Trump) as a central example — Zampolli is credited with discovering her in Milan around 1995 and helping her enter the U.S. market, with some reports dating her arrival to 1996 [2] [1] [7]. Other named figures linked to Zampolli’s agencies include Ana Hickmann and Cinthia Moura as represented models, while broader profiles reference work with high‑end talent and use of models to market real‑estate projects [4] [3]. Some secondary reporting cites interactions with figures such as Angie Everhart in property‑marketing contexts, but that is contextual to later real‑estate ventures rather than core 1990s sponsorship lists [4].
4. Contested allegations, networks and alternative readings
Tabloid claims that Zampolli ran an escort service in the 1990s have been publicly denied by him and by Melania; journalists note such allegations were “gossipy” and legally contested while also pointing to the porous boundaries between elite modeling, clubs and powerful social networks of the era [2]. Investigative pieces and opinion essays place Zampolli inside a broader ecosystem that included high‑profile managers and controversial figures — and that ecosystem is criticized for producing exploitative dynamics — yet the sources differ on assertion versus documented proof, and some draw inferences about “visa pipelines” without producing direct case files in these excerpts [7] [9] [10].
5. What the record proves and where reporting falls short
The documentation in mainstream profiles (New York Times, PassBlue, Air Mail) reliably supports that Zampolli founded ID Models in the mid‑1990s, worked as a scout/agent who helped Melania’s move into the U.S. market, and later pivoted toward real estate and diplomatic roles [2] [3] [6]. Claims about systematic trafficking, specific visa fraud schemes, or a roster of every person “sponsored” to the United States go beyond what these sourced excerpts definitively establish; such broader allegations appear in opinion and investigatory pieces that synthesize patterns but lack full public documentary proof in the provided material [7] [10]. Absent court records or immigration filings in these sources, conclusions should distinguish between documented placements (e.g., named model representation) and interpretive claims about industry‑wide abuses.