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Claudia Schiffer 

At the height of her fame, super model Claudia Schiffer needed security to stop people stealing her underwear.

The German beauty shot to fame in the early 1990s as one of the "big six" supermodels alongside Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Kate Moss.

Claudia, 49, says that being so famous for her looks had major drawbacks, however, as security staff had to be hired to ward off peeping toms and stop people stealing her bra and panties.

"People would cut holes in the fashion tents and try to take pictures of us," she tells Elle U.K. "We had security at every fashion show. When I was out on the runway I'd come back and constantly my underwear would be gone - my bra, my knickers ... gone!"

Now, the star says she's happy that as an older woman, she no longer needs to deal with the frenzied attention - and is happy to pass on her mantle to younger models like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner.

"You don't have to be called (beautiful) your entire life," she explains. "It's a nice memory, but then the next generation starts and you hand over. For me, it's a natural thing to do ... to hand over, to not be envious or jealous.

"As a matter of fact, I can't think of anything worse right now than if you said 'There's a magic pill and it's going to make you look 20 again.'"