Though Twiggy, Cheryl Tiegs, and Lauren Hutton predate the decade, the vacant-eyed, frequently malnourished, freakishly tall creature known as the supermodel didn't truly arrive as a cultural force until the image-obsessed '80s. But behind the glamour and fame of the modeling business lies a seamy and sordid, but still fairly glamorous, world of gold-lamé pantsuits, voracious fashion photographers, and secretly heterosexual fashion designers, if the muckraking 1984 drama Covergirl is to be believed. First seen complaining to a photographer about a grabby client who wanted to "test the merchandise," Irena Ferris stars as a rising young model who meets cute with fashion icon and former Taxi star Jeff Conaway when he crashes his car and must share a cab with her. Despite her initial impression that Conaway is "arrogant, conceited, obnoxious," and several other pejorative terms, Ferris eventually warms to the future Babylon 5 star, particularly after he stages a series of elaborate displays in her honor, using the money he's made cornering the lucrative alcoholic-beverage-dispensing-robot market. Convinced that Ferris is the "face of the '80s," Conaway hires her to serve as the public image of his company, which specializes in the closely related fields of robots and fashion. Though she ascends to the top of her field with Conaway's help, she soon comes to resent his controlling tactics, particularly after one of his sidekicks plants a story that she's carrying the child of a notoriously effeminate fashion designer. Such unconventional tactics eventually lead to the couple's breakup, sending Ferris on a downward spiral that culminates in her appearance at a nightmarish soirée where cocaine-pushing veteran models compete with juggling mimes for the attention of youngsters. Realizing how much she's given up, and desperate for security, Ferris saves Conaway's company, thwarts a hostile takeover, reunites with him, and assumes a seat on the board of directors, proving herself to be not only the face of the '80s, but the mind of the '80s, as well.
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