Most people know Martha Stewart as a lifestyle guru, television personality, and businesswoman. But long before any of that, she was a working model in New York City. She turned to modeling specifically to pay her college tuition, and she was good enough at it to land magazine spreads and television commercials. The camera loved her, and the fashion world took notice.
Martha Kostyra was born on August 3, 1941, in Jersey City, New Jersey. From a young age, she showed a sharp business instinct. As a schoolgirl, she organized birthday parties for neighborhood children and charged for the service. That entrepreneurial drive followed her straight into adulthood. When it was time for college, she found a practical solution to the cost — modeling. She enrolled at Barnard College and used her modeling income to keep herself there.
Her modeling work was not limited to small gigs. She appeared in television commercials and earned features in well-known magazines. One of her most notable early appearances was in Glamour Magazine, where she was featured as one of the “Ten Best Dressed College Girls.” That kind of recognition put her among a very select group of young women at the time.
She also modeled for iconic fashion brands. Her work with Chanel placed her in the upper tier of the modeling world — not every young model from New Jersey ended up wearing one of fashion’s most prestigious labels for a photo shoot. These early photos show a poised, confident young woman who clearly knew how to hold her own in front of a lens.
It was during her modeling years that Martha met Andrew Stewart. The two married in 1961, when Martha was just 19 years old. After more than two decades together, the couple separated and officially divorced in 1990. Martha later dated actor Anthony Hopkins, but the relationship ended after she watched him play Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. She stated plainly that she could not stop associating him with the character.
Modeling was never meant to be her final destination. After finishing college, Martha pivoted sharply. She became one of the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street, receiving her license on August 14, 1968. She worked in that world for several years before shifting directions again. In the late 1970s, she launched a catering business out of her home in Westport, Connecticut, calling it Martha Stewart, Inc.
That catering business grew fast. Within a decade, she was cooking for corporate clients and celebrities. The business eventually evolved into Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., formally established in 1991. It became a media and merchandising empire built on cooking, entertaining, decorating, and home keeping — all rooted in the same attention to detail she had shown since childhood.
Her career hit a serious legal crisis in the early 2000s. Martha was convicted on four felony charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and perjury. The charges arose from an investigation into her sale of ImClone Systems stock. She was sentenced to five months in federal prison and fined $30,000.
Looking back at these 1960s photographs, it is easy to see why she worked steadily as a model. She had the look — tall, sharp features, and an ease in front of the camera that most people never develop. These images capture a young woman in her element, long before the television shows, the cookbooks, the legal battles, or the business empire.
