Are there documented test shots, agency comp cards, or booking records linking Melania to specific NYC agencies in the 1990s?

1. Ledger evidence: accounting pages and payment records

The most concrete documentary claim in published reporting is that accounting ledgers and related documents show Melania was paid for U.S. modeling assignments before she obtained a U.S. work visa on October 18, 1996; Associated Press–sourced material cited by The Guardian reports ledger entries identifying her and listing roughly $20,526 in gross earnings covering assignments from July 18, 1996, to September 26, 1997 ^[1]. Those ledgers were reportedly discovered in storage and authenticated by a former employee; reporting emphasizes the documents as part of an internal legal dispute from the late 1990s rather than a public archive ^[1].

2. Agency affiliations cited in profiles and industry write‑ups

Profiles and fashion‑industry accounts consistently name specific agents and agencies associated with Melania’s move to New York: Paolo Zampolli and Metropolitan Models are repeatedly credited with hiring or sponsoring her relocation to the U.S., and other accounts cite early Milan and Paris representation (RVR and work in Milan/Paris) that preceded her U.S. career ^{[2] [5] [4]}. Multiple lifestyle and trade pieces describe Zampolli arranging housing and introductions to the New York market, but those accounts are narrative and rely on interviews and secondary reporting rather than publication of agency contract pages in the public domain ^{[2] [5]}.

3. Photographers’ recollections and published images — test shots vs. editorial/nude shoots

Fashion photographers who worked with Melania have described specific shoots in New York in the late 1990s, including advertising campaigns (for example, a 1999 Concord Watch campaign) and earlier editorial or nude shoots from 1996. These first‑hand recollections were published in outlets such as WWD and Yahoo/entertainment, and include references to images and campaigns rather than formal agency comp cards or booking logs accessible to the public ^{[3] [6]}. Reporting shows photographers’ memories and some images circulated in media coverage, but the sources do not present a comprehensive set of agency test shots or comp cards produced by the agencies themselves ^{[3] [6]}.

4. Trump Model Management and later claims about agency ties

Several sources assert Melania was one of the first models recruited to Donald Trump’s agency after its February 1999 creation; Wikipedia and trade reporting include that claim and note her appearances in magazines and advertisements organized by associates of Donald Trump ^[4]. Mother Jones and other outlets reference Politico and industry sources raising questions about immigration timing and her brief association with Trump’s agency in the late 1990s, but these are framed as part of broader reporting about modeling agencies’ immigration practices rather than publication of full booking records ^{[7] [8]}.

5. What sources do not show — gaps and limitations

Publicly available reporting in these selections does not reproduce a comprehensive set of agency comp cards, full booking ledgers from named New York agencies beyond the AP‑sourced ledgers reported in The Guardian, or a full chain of agency contracts that would definitively map every booking to a named NYC agency. Some material (ledgers) was recovered in storage and authenticated off the record by a former employee rather than published in full; photographers’ accounts and magazine spreads provide corroborating context but are not the same as agency booking records or official comp cards made public ^{[1] [3]}.

6. Conflicting viewpoints and implicit agendas in the record

Reporting that emphasizes ledger evidence (The Guardian citing AP documents) presents documentary backing for payments prior to the visa date, while other industry profiles focus on narrative career progression through European agencies and Zampolli’s role in bringing her to New York ^{[1] [2]}. Some outlets use these facts to question immigration timing; others foreground standard modeling industry practice in the 1990s and photo‑editorial work. Note that pieces tied to political controversy (immigration scrutiny surrounding a public figure) can carry implicit agendas of political opponents or critics, while fashion profiles can sanitize or normalize career moves — both tendencies appear across the cited sources ^{[7] [2]}.

Conclusion — what can be said with the available reporting

Available reporting documents ledger entries and photographer testimony that link Melania to paid U.S. modeling work and to agents such as Paolo Zampolli/Metropolitan in the 1990s, and it reports she was later connected to Trump Model Management around 1999; however, public circulation of full agency comp cards or exhaustive booking logs from New York agencies has not been reproduced in the cited pieces ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. Sources do not mention a publicly available archive of every test shot, comp card, or complete booking record that would conclusively map each 1990s job to specific NYC agencies beyond the recovered ledgers and published photographer accounts ^{[1] [3]}.