Kincardine, Ontario native Jessica Stam was discovered at a Canadian amusement park, and almost immediately signed by a local modeling agency. Stam received her big break courtesy of noted photographer Steven Meisel who considers her a muse.

He first photographed her for a pair of Vogue Italia covers for the magazine's coveted September issue in 2003. To date, Stam has covered the venerable publication seven times, including its 50th Anniversary September issue (and over one dozen international editions of the title, including the May 2007 issue of Vogue US), all by Meisel. He has also photographed her for series of advertising campaigns for Prada, Miu Miu, Valentino, and Lanvin.

Stam has fronted promotions for CoverGirl cosmetics, Christian Dior, Bulgari, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Nina Ricci, and Fendi, by Pat McGrath and Tom Murno, Craig McDean, Mert & Marcus, Steven Klein, Sebastian Kim, and Karl Lagerfeld, to Aldo, Gap, and BCBG by Terry Richardson, Mikael Jansson, and Patrick Demarchelier (who also captured her for the inaugural issue of Vogue Turkey), respectively. Additional campaigns include Balenciaga, Burberry, Roberto Cavalli, DKNY, H&M, Cerruti, Mercedes Benz, Paule Ka, Swarovski, and Marc Jacobs.

As a testament to her modeling prowess, Stam also served as the inspiration behind Jacobs’ best-selling “Stam” handbag. She has also collaborated with fashion designers Rachel Roy, Rag and Bone, and Repetto. Additionally, Stam has sat for Mario Testino, Peter Lindbergh, David Sims, Paolo Roversi, Inez & Vinoodh, Vincent Peters, Juergen Teller, Thomas Schenk, Michel Comte, Glen Luchford, Nick Knight, Richard Burbridge, Carter Smith, Satoshi, and the incomparable Irving Penn.

In addition to the aforementioned, Stam has walked the Haute Couture collections of Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Elie Saab, and Valentino, and the pret-a-porter collections of Chanel, Chloé, John Galliano, Thierry Mugler, and Alexander McQueen, as well as the Victoria’s Secret annual televised fashion show.

Off-duty, Stam served as a fashion correspondent for MTV News, and the host of Yahoo’s “The Thread”. She is also a certified lifeguard and scuba diver, and actively involved with Many Hopes, an organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty in Kenya.