21 Rare Photos of Young Melania Trump As a Model

Melania Trump is a former model and the wife of Donald Trump, who later became the First Lady of the United States. Before entering public life, she had a successful international modeling career, appearing in magazines and campaigns across Europe and the United States.

Melania Trump is a Slovene-American former model and businesswoman. Melania Trump started her modeling career as a teenager. She was the first lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021, during the presidency of her husband, Donald Trump. And now she became the first lady of United States again on 20 January 2025.

At inauguration-melenia trump 2025 — source

Melania Trump isn’t the first style icon presidential wife and she’s also not the only one with stunning good looks. But her specific combination of style, beauty, foreign roots, and reserved demeanor all help to make the current FLOTUS one-of-a-kind. So where did she come from, and how has modeling helped shape who she is today? Read on to find out.

Melania Trump early life

Melania hails from a small town in Slovenia and says she always had an interest in fashion and modeling. Born Melania Knavs, she claims that she used to knit sweaters herself. Her father Viktor Knavs was a car dealer and her mother, Amalija, was a children’s clothing designer. As Melania told People in 2016, “I always loved fashion. My mother was a fashion designer so it was always in my blood.”

Melania Trump began working as a model at the tender age of 16. She got signed by an agency in Milan at the age of 18, but it wasn’t until she turned 22 that she got her big break. Melania was runner-up in the Slovenian women’s magazine Jana’s “Look of the Year” contest.

Modeling Career Highlights

Melania Trump’s modeling career began at a young age as she showcased her mother’s designs as a child on runways in Belgrade. However, as a teenager, she decided to pursue a formal education in industrial design at the Secondary School for Design and Photography in Ljubljana, a degree that combined her interests in art, graphic design, and fashion. Melania later switched her focus to becoming an architect.

Rise to Global Fame

Melania Trump’s rise to global fame is a multi-stage journey, evolving from a young model in Slovenia to a high-fashion model in Europe and New York, before becoming a prominent American figure as the wife of Donald Trump and serving as the 45th First Lady of the United States (2017–2021, and again in 2025). Her global recognition is characterized by a blend of her fashion background, her role as the second foreign-born First Lady, and her “Be Best” initiative focused on children’s welfare.