Jessica Stam, was raised on a farm in Kincardine, Ontario the only girl in a family of seven children. At a Canadian amusement park, a talent scout noticed Jessica's "look" – she was immediately signed by a local modeling agency.
However, it was Steven Meisel who gave Jessica her big break when he shot her for two Italian Vogue covers for the coveted September issue. He also shot her exclusively as the new face of Valentino's Fall/Winter 2003 campaign. Since then, she has appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue an astonishing total of six times and regularly appears in top fashion magazines including Vogue (American, Italian, French, British, Japanese, Chinese) W, and Harper’s Bazaar, Numero, W, V, and Another.
Jessica has had the opportunity to work with such noted photographers as Irving Penn, Mario Testino, Peter Lindbergh, Craig McDean, David Sims, Paolo Roversi, Inez & Vinoodh, Vincent Peters, Juergen Teller, Thomas Schenk, Michel Comte, Glen Luchford, Terry Richardson, Nick Knight, and Richard Burbridge. She has appeared in advertisements for Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Prada, Atsuro Tayama, Emporio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, and Bulgari. She is the face of DKNY’s fragrance “Delicious Night” and can currently be seen hosting Yahoo’s fashion show The Thread.
Transitioning from model, to celebrity, to activist in 2012, she partnered with Many Hopes, Adopt Together, and Peace Jam to help foster kids and street kids in the US and costal Kenya.