From Slovenia to New York Fashion Week: Melania Trump's Modeling Debut as Melanija Knavs in 1987 Shows Dramatic Transformation Before Meeting Donald Trump

Before she was the First Lady, Melania Trump was known as Melanija Knavs, a Slovenian model on the cusp of superstardom in the late 80s.

Photographs from her early shoots when she was still a teenager show how different the now-56-year-old wife of the president looked when she began her modeling career.

Melania, née "Melanija," was discovered at age 16 by Slovenian photographer Stane Jerko. In her late '80s debut shoots, she showcases a fuller, younger face than the sleek, sharp features she would become famous for as she aged.

The future first lady would rename herself Melania Knauss as she sought more modeling work in Europe, and in the mid-90s, began to model for fashion houses in Paris and Milan.

During that time, she met Metropolitan Models co-owner Paolo Zampolli, who would go on to introduce her to Donald Trump.

While dating Trump in the late '90s and early 2000s, Melania became a New York City socialite, and eventually married Donald in 2005. Soon after, the couple had their only son, Barron Trump. Melania also became the stepmother to Donald's four other children from previous marriages.

As Melania aged in the public eye, she has been open with her beauty strategy. In a 2016 GQ interview, she strongly denied receiving cosmetic surgery.

"I take care of my skin and my body. I'm against Botox, I'm against injections," she said. "I think it's damaging your face, damaging your nerves. It's all me. I will age gracefully, as my mom does."

In the same interview, given before Donald became president, she claimed that she would keep mum about her own feelings about politics.

"Nobody will ever know," she said.

Melania went on to become one of the more curious first ladies in American history. She is only the second first lady to be an immigrant after Louisa Catherine Adams, who was the wife of America's sixth president, John Quincy Adams.

Furthermore, she has at times appeared to struggle with the traditional expectations of the role. During her husband’s first term, she promoted the “Be Best” initiative, which included a focus on combating cyberbullying — even as her husband became notorious for using insulting nicknames and personal attacks against his political opponents.

She also attracted numerous controversies, including a notable backlash to her off-kilter White House Christmas decorations. She reportedly hated the first lady's traditional responsibility of decorating the White House for the holidays, to the point where she reportedly said, "Who give a [expletive] about Christmas?"

She's been nearly absentee during her husband's second term, living mostly in New York while the president works in the White House. She'll often go weeks without making a public appearance, and will only occasionally appear next to her husband at major events.

In recent weeks, her absence has been amplified by the increased attention on Natalie Harp, her husband's 35-year-old blonde aide who leaves him intimate letters and follows him around with hard copies of things she feels he would like to read.