What modeling agencies did Melania Trump work with before moving to the US?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Before relocating to the United States in 1996, Melania Knauss (later Melania Trump) worked with several European modeling outfits: she began with photographer Stane Jerko in Slovenia, signed with a Milan agency identified in reporting as RVR (sometimes rendered RVR Reclame), and later sought representation in Paris and Milan as she built an international portfolio; after moving to New York she was employed by Paolo Zampolli’s modeling operation, which played a direct role in sponsoring her U.S. immigration paperwork [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Early break in Slovenia and the first photographer who opened doors
Melania’s entry into modeling is consistently traced to a chance encounter with Slovenian photographer Stane Jerko, who shot her first test photos and helped launch her as a teenager in local contests and commercial work in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a narrative reported by major outlets including The New York Times and later profiles [1] [3].
2. Milan: the RVR contract and continental representation
At roughly 18 or 22 (accounts vary in detail across sources), she signed with a Milan-based agency identified in multiple reports as RVR (RVR Reclame), a move that prompted her to relocate to Milan to pursue modeling professionally and is cited in contemporary profiles and later retrospectives of her pre‑U.S. career [2] [3].
3. Paris, additional European work and possible other agents
Reporting describes a period when Melania lived and worked in Paris in the mid‑1990s, seeking broader European bookings and sharing accommodations with other models, and notes she pursued additional representation in Paris and Milan as her career developed; some accounts say she later met or arranged representation with Riccardo Gay, a noted agency figure, although descriptions of that relationship vary by source [2] [3].
4. Paolo Zampolli and the New York modeling firm that brought her to the U.S.
When she moved to New York in 1996, reporting and documents tie Melania to the modeling operation run by Paolo Zampolli: Zampolli has been described as hiring her, arranging U.S. work assignments, and sponsoring her immigration to the United States — a claim repeated in encyclopedic summaries and contemporaneous investigative coverage about her early American modeling work [4] [5] [6]. Accounting ledgers and Associated Press reporting show she was listed on Zampolli‑associated firm ledgers for work in the U.S. in 1996, and the firm’s records identify assignments for U.S. clients tied to that period [5] [6].
5. What the records confirm and what remains contested
Documentary reporting — notably AP and PBS coverage — documents payments for U.S. modeling assignments tied to records from the Zampolli‑connected firm and indicates she did modeling work in the U.S. in mid‑1996 before formalization of a work visa later that year; those ledger entries list clients including Fitness magazine and Bergdorf Goodman for assignments during the July–September 1996 window [5] [6]. While mainstream profiles uniformly credit RVR and Zampolli as key agencies/agents in her pre‑U.S. trajectory, nuance and gaps remain: sources differ on which Paris or Milan agents represented her at specific moments, and some biographical summaries condense or paraphrase agency names and timelines without producing contemporaneous contracts in public view [2] [3] [1].
6. How to read the sources and competing narratives
Major outlets (The New York Times, AP, PBS) and encyclopedic entries (Wikipedia) converge on the sequence—Stane Jerko discovery, Milan agency (RVR), and Paolo Zampolli’s U.S. operation as pivotal — but there are competing emphases: magazine profiles and later tabloids amplify shoots and magazine credits, while investigative pieces focus on ledger evidence and immigration timing [1] [5] [6] [7]. Reporting sometimes uses shorthand (“a Milan agency,” “Zampolli’s firm”) rather than full corporate names, creating the appearance of disagreement where primary alignment exists about the main players; at the same time, absence of publicly released original contracts limits a fully granular reconstruction of every agency relationship [2] [5].