What documented modeling work did Melania Trump do before marrying Donald Trump?

1. Early discovery and Slovenian beginnings

Melania—born Melanija Knavs—was discovered as a teenager in Slovenia when photographer Stane Jerko spotted her at a fashion show in 1987 and shot the first portfolio images that launched her professional career, a well-documented origin story repeated across profiles and contemporary outlets ^{[1] [5] [6]}.

2. European runway and agency work in Milan and Paris

By the early 1990s she pursued modeling full time, signing with a Milan agency and working across European fashion circuits, including stays in Paris and assignments that ranged from catalog and editorial shoots to runway appearances—accounts note she worked in Milan and Paris before moving to New York in 1996 ^{[2] [5] [6]}.

3. Notable early achievements and contests

Her early résumé includes participation in continental competitions and recognition in magazines: she was a runner-up in a “Look of the Year” contest run by Jana Magazine in 1992 and took jobs that raised her visibility in European markets, a detail cited in multiple biographies and entertainment profiles ^{[3] [5]}.

4. Move to New York and U.S. modeling assignments

Melania relocated to New York in 1996 to expand her modeling career and, according to reporting, was introduced into Manhattan fashion circles by Paolo Zampolli, who helped her connect to U.S. opportunities and is reported to have sponsored her immigration to the United States that year; she worked as a model in Manhattan in the late 1990s ^{[7] [2]}.

5. Paid U.S. work before a formal visa—documents and controversy

Documentary evidence produced during the 2016 campaign shows payments to Melania for at least ten U.S. modeling assignments before she obtained a formal U.S. work visa in October 1996, a set of ledger entries and industry records that The Guardian reported and that fueled public scrutiny about timing and immigration paperwork ^[4]. Different outlets framed this as documentation of pre-visa paid work, while Melania and her representatives have maintained she came to the U.S. legally and pursued her career professionally ^[4].

6. Association with Trump Model Management and transition after meeting Donald Trump

After she met Donald Trump in 1998 at a New York fashion event, Melania continued modeling—albeit less frequently as her personal life shifted—and was among the first models reported to be signed to Trump Model Management in February 1999, a move that connected her more closely to New York’s elite fashion-and-society circuit ^{[3] [7]}. Profiles note she kept modeling jobs into the early 2000s even as she moved toward marriage in 2005 ^[7].

7. Types of work documented: editorials, runway, and “artistic” nude shoots in Europe

Across profiles and her own memoiric statements, the body of documented work before her marriage includes editorial shoots, runway appearances, catalog work, and European shoots that she and others describe as artistic nudity common in continental fashion practice; reporting emphasizes that nude work was framed in Europe as industry-normal “artistic and tasteful” photography rather than scandalous material ^{[3] [5]}.

8. Limits of the public record and contested narratives

While public reporting, agency ledgers, biographies, and interviews sketch a clear arc—from discovery in Slovenia to European modeling and U.S. assignments—the record is uneven on the exact list of clients, dates for every shoot, and how individual payments were processed; investigative pieces and Melania’s own accounts sometimes emphasize different details, and reporting about visa timing remains the central contested point in the documented pre-marriage record ^{[4] [5]}.