If you have seen The Face, you will know that a distinctive walk is an essential, in fact the most essential, element of a supermodel's repertoire, a signature that sets her apart from all the other unfairly blessed beautiful people stalking the catwalk. Below are 14 of our favourites. 

1. The I-am-more-than-just-a-model-I-am-installation-art walk
Supermodel Pat Cleveland, who came to prominence in the 1970s, didn't so much walk as perform, à la this fabulous Thierry Mugler moment from the autumn/winter 1984 show. 

2. The I-am-fundamentally-too-French-for-this walk
Inès de La Fressange always brought a brilliantly insouciant Gallic attitude to her runway appearances. 'I'm beautiful and I'm wearing Chanel,' her gait at this 1987 show says. There's no need to over-egg the pudding.  

3. The let's-not-kid-ourselves-I-am-very-sexy walk
Cindy Crawford is the owner of the most exquisitely beautiful face and the most bangin' body. Her walk – plain, uncomplicated, strong – acknowledges this.

4. The we-don’t-wake-up-for-less-than-$10,000-a-day walk
Of course, Linda Evangelista, the woman behind one of fashion's most infamous soundbites, has an elegantly fabulous walk. That's precisely why she wouldn't get out of bed for less than ten thou.  

5. The I-am-Naomi-Campbell walk
Eyes straight ahead, hips sashaying from left to right, chin down: Naomi is a languid thread of sexy fashion-ness and she knows it.  

6. The I-am-a-wholesome-German-fräulein walk
Claudia Schiffer was a lovely bouncy model in her catwalk days, full of cheer and fun and swing-y shoulder moves. Sehr schön, ja!   

7. The I-am-the-coolest-of-you-all walk
Kate Moss wasn't the tallest model on the catwalk, she didn't have the thickest hair or the biggest lips. Instead, she had a quiet cool that ultimately was more transfixing. 

8. The we-are-the-queens-of-the-world walk
When Linda, Cindy, Naomi and Christy sauntered down the Versace catwalk in 1991, their starry appeal was multiplied by four and they became a phalanx of pure glamour, all high hair and short skirts. 

9. The I-am-the-most-radiant-and-perfect-of-you-all walk
Gisele, the most radiant and perfect human ever born, has only to arch her back and jut her hip at the spring/summer 2001 Valentino show to subtly hammer home the fact that she is, definitively, the most radiant and perfect human ever born. 

10. The I-am-the-Lord-of-the-Dance walk
Coco Rocha's everyday catwalk walk is straight, professional, composed but when Jean Paul Gaultier convinced her to dance a jig on his autumn/winter 2007 catwalk, a fantastic runway moment was born. More of this type of thing, please.  

11. The hurrah-I'm-on-the-Sonia-Rykiel-catwalk walk
The Sonia Rykiel shows are the most goofily fun on the fashion schedule, the catwalk show where the models are positively encouraged to, like, actually smile, and Abbey Lee Kershaw really got into the spirit for the spring/summer 2010 show. Just look at those arm movements. 

12. The I-am-the-most-expensive-booking-on-this-catwalk walk
Karlie Kloss is the most in-demand young model in the world, just over six feet of lucrative poise. The bookers know it, the designers know it, the producers know it, the editors know it, the people at home know it. Her sideways glance certainly knows it.   

13. The cheeky-chappy-Cara walk
Cara Delevingne, gurner extraordinaire, generally keeps it together on the catwalk – this is a model who can easily switch to sophisticated when the brand demands it – but sometimes she just can't resist a playful flourish, a gentle bottom slap perhaps, or a cheeky wink. And that is why she's the most GIF-able model of them all.

14. The Mean Girls walk 
Some pouts are sexy, others are silly. Lindsey Wixson's pout is petulant. Perpetually. A pursed lip of scorn. And those eyes! You wouldn't want to get on their bad side, would you? A pretty posy of flowers and a wedding dress at Moschino autumn/winter 2014 can't dampen the fundamental, and quite brilliant, meanness of Wixson's walk.