Kathy Ireland is an American Model And Businesswoman

Kathy Ireland is an American model, actress, businesswoman, and CEO of her eponymous brand product marketing company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide.Kathy Ireland was born Kathleen Marie Ireland in Santa Barbara, California, daughter of John Ireland, a labor union organizer, and Barbara Ireland. At 17, she was discovered by an agent for Elite Model Management, and by the time she graduated high school, she was working steadily as a model.

Starting in 1984, Ireland was featured in the annual Swimsuit Issue an extraordinary dozen times before her final appearance in 1996.In addition to her long tenure within the pages, Ireland appeared on the cover of the annual issue 3 times, a feat tied by Christie Brinkley and Cheryl Tiegs and surpassed only by Elle Macpherson. Ireland was the cover model for the first time on the 25th Anniversary Swimsuit Edition, which became SI's best selling swimsuit issue to date.She returned to the cover in 1992, and in 1994. In her third appearance, she was accompanied by Rachel Hunter and Elle Macpherson; notably, both Hunter and Ireland were pregnant at the time.

Ireland branched out from modeling into a small number of television and movie acting appearances. Her first movie, 1988's Alien from L.A., was later skewered during the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Ireland also appeared in Melrose Place, Side Out, Mr. Destiny, Loaded Weapon 1, Once Upon A Christmas,Twice Upon A Christmas,Mom and Dad Save the World and Necessary Roughness.

In 1993, Ireland dipped her toe in the waters of brand marketing when she put her name on a line of socks. Kmart took a chance on them and after they proved a best-seller, the retailer offered Ireland her own clothing line[8]. Ireland then founded Kathy Ireland Worldwide (KIWW), a brand product marketing company in which she holds a majority stake.By 2004, Ireland was marketing products from 16 manufacturers; with Standard Furniture products representing about half the company's sales.Ireland's long-term exclusive contract with the K-mart Corporation lasted until 2003, after which she began adding thousands of independent mid-tier retail stores to her distribution chain.By 2005, KIWW products were sold at over 50,000 locations in 15 countries, generating an estimated $1.4 billion in retail sales. Ireland's annual take is thought to be around $10 million, which has prompted Forbes to name her the "prototype for model-turned-mogul" in an article about the trend of modelpreneurs.