As soon as photographer Steven Meisel discovered the then 16-year-old Stam, he cast her in every ad campaign of his, and suddenly she was a star. "I guess I'm his muse," she has said of her mentor. Stam won the Los Angeles Model Look Search in 2002.

Her career was set off when she appeared on the cover of UK & German Vogue and she has appeared in advertisements for Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, Vera Wang, Valentino, Miu Miu, Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Holt Renfrew. In 2004, Stam appeared in the short film Agent Orange.

Good friend and fashion designer Marc Jacobs recently created a bag inspired by and named after her (The Marc Jacobs Stam). Stam is currently the face of Armani, Sonia Rykiel, BCBG, and Rochas for 2006. She also appeared in the 2006 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, in which she had her own featurette and opened a Theme entitled "Pink".

For Spring 2006 Ready-to-Wear, Stam walked a total of 64 shows combined during the New York, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks. During Paris's Spring/Summer 2007 Haute Couture fashion week she walked for Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior, Givenchy, and Jean Paul Gaultier.

--Wikipedia