Not just Shayk and Vodianova: 7 Russian supermodels who conquered the world

Natalia Vodianova and Irina Shayk are world famous. Both girls have made an incredible rise from provincial simpletons to stars of the first magnitude. Vodianova comes from Nizhny Novgorod. There in her youth she worked part-time, selling fruit at the market.

Now Natalia is one of the richest supermodels, married to the son of billionaire Bernard Arnault (he and his family with a total fortune of $ 233 billion became the richest people, according to Forbes rating), mother of five children, philanthropist and simply beautiful.

Natalia Vodianova

Her colleague, Irina Shayk, was teased by her classmates as a child for her height as a “giraffe” and for her swarthy skin color as a “chunga-changa”. Imagine the faces of former offenders now.

After all, Irina is the owner of a fortune of $ 20 million and is on the covers of the world’s most famous magazines. She also dated Cristiano Ronaldo and gave birth to a daughter Leah to Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper.

However, other Russian beauties have made no less dizzying career.

Maria Novosyolova, 39

Maria was born in Tula and did not even think about a modeling career. After graduating from school, Masha planned to enter the institute at the faculty of economics. Once her parents noticed that her daughter slouches a lot, and decided to give her to a modeling school. Just to stretch her posture and teach her how to walk properly.

A simple hobby soon turned into a profession. Masha still did not leave the dream of becoming an economist and purely by chance saw an ad for a portfolio. Model scout Oksana Zubkova was impressed by the girl’s photogenicity and sent her pictures to a French agency.

A few days later Masha received an unexpected offer to work in Paris. This is how a 17-year-old girl from Tula found herself in the world heart of fashion.

Maria admitted that the first months were very hard for her. All alone, without relatives and friends, with minimal knowledge of French, and the fees of a budding model were not exorbitant. In moments of despair, the girl thought of leaving everything and returning to Tula.

One photo changed everything. Masha decorated the cover of the French magazine Numero, and from that moment the girl did not need to pound the thresholds of agencies in search of work. Orders sprinkled on their own. In her personal life, too, there were big changes. Masha met with the son of French actress Carole Bouquet – Dimitri Rassam.

In 2010, the couple played a wedding at the insistence of the bride in St. Petersburg. Maria really wanted to show her husband Russia, who was happy to please the beautiful wife. The mother-in-law had a heart for her daughter-in-law, and Novoselova was able to quickly find a common language with her.

In marriage, the couple had a daughter Daria. Maria admitted that tries to spoil the family Russian dishes. But most of all, the French relatives like the usual semolina porridge, which Novoselova prepares her daughter in the morning for breakfast.

But the family idyll lasted only six years. Dmitry was not once seen in the company of Grace Kelly’s granddaughter Charlotte Casiraghi. Then the tabloids were full of headlines that the Princess of Monaco stole from the model husband. The couple did not comment on the breakup in any way, the divorce took place quietly. In 2019, Dmitry married Charlotte.

Maria herself gave birth to another daughter named Heidi in January 2023. The 39-year-old model does not name the father’s name.

Natasha Poly, 38 years old

Perm girl Natalia Polevshchikova (this is the real name of the model) dreamed of the glossy modeling world since childhood. But to a modest ordinary girl, it seemed out of reach.

“Fashion magazines seemed to me a world of untouchables. The models were just images, not real people. Beauty and fashion did not reach us immediately, so I learned most of my techniques from a 50s housewives’ book my grandmother gave me. Once I boiled onion husks and washed my hair with them to dye it orange… I also learned how to use water bottles as weights to stay in shape and how to make a hair mask from eggs and beer,” Natasha said in an interview.

Natasha started her modeling career at the age of 15. She saved up money and persuaded her mother to go to a Moscow contest. Here the ambitious future model took second place. But more luck became contracts with foreign brands.

After graduation Natasha signed a contract with a New York agency and went to the States. Scouts advised the girl to take a pseudonym (it was very difficult to pronounce the surname to the English-speaking public) – so Natalya Polevshchikova became Natasha Poly.

In 2003, the model met Dutch businessman Peter Bakker, and eight years later the couple played a chic wedding in St. Tropez. The couple have two children – 10-year-old Alexandra and five-year-old Adrian.

Natasha is still in demand model, often appears at shows, takes part in photo shoots. Therefore, Paulie carefully watches her figure and skin.

“My daily routine is quite simple and natural. I wake up with a puffy face, so every morning I massage it for 10 minutes, without interruption and with rose oil. I also massage the sides of my neck, which is good for lymphatic drainage. Then I drink a big glass of warm water with lemon and do a live workout with trainer Tracy Anderson. I stay away from coffee and alcohol whenever possible.”

Sasha Luss, 31

The girl from Magadan dreamed of a career as a ballerina, but a serious injury made her forget about dancing. Sasha’s mom, a doctor by education, never hindered her daughter’s aspirations. Therefore, when Sasha said that she wanted to become a model, she only helped and supported.

At the age of 14 Sasha signed her first contract, and at 16 she defiled at the show of Russian designer Alyona Akhmadullina. In the capital, a blue-eyed blonde with a precise appearance was spotted by scouts of European modeling agencies.

The aspiring model participated in several world shows, but she was still far away from real fame. At that time Sasha returned home to finish school. But she in parallel collaborated with Russian fashion brands.

In 2012, Sasha’s photo miraculously fell into the hands of the great and terrible Karl Lagerfeld. He offered the bewildered model to become one of the models at the Chanel Paris-Bombay fashion show.

A year later, Sasha already appeared at the Dior show. That period became a landmark for Luss – by 2016 she won the title of a rising star of the fashion world.

And again, one photo alone miraculously turned Sasha’s life around, opening a window into the world of cinema. Luc Besson was busy casting actors for his movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. He flipped through hundreds of pages of photo models and stopped his eyes on the photo of Sasha.

A week later, the girl received an invitation to a personal meeting with the director. That day Luke was devastated, just yesterday his father died, but grief-stricken Besson decided not to cancel the meeting.

Sasha admitted that the conversation was heavy. They talked not only about the role, but also about the value of family and close relationships.

Then Luss and did not think that she could get the role. It seemed to her that the director remained unimpressed by their conversation. But after a couple of months, Sasha was called again, now for an audition.

It lasted four hours, during which Luss and sang, and danced, and even spoke in her own invented (and improvised) language. By the way, this is how the role of Lilu in “The Fifth Element” got Milla Jovovich.

As a result, Sasha debuted in the movie in the image of Princess Laiho-Mina, whose death becomes the main motive for the devastating events. After the premiere of the movie, the director and the model continued to communicate and often called each other.

Luke advised Sasha to take acting lessons and hone her English to reduce her Russian accent. Another meeting, during which Luke handed the girl the script of the movie “Anna”, happened in Los Angeles.

“I read the script sitting next to Luke. He asked my opinion, I said I’d never heard of it. He replied – ‘Because it’s new.’ And then he asked: “Do you want to play Anna?” I just dropped my jaw, I could not believe it,” – recalled Sasha.

To play Anna – assassin-spy, working undercover model, Sasha had to improve the physical form. Luss for six hours a day practiced in the gym, trained in jiu-jitsu and Thai boxing.

“I knew there would be a lot of fight scenes. And I’m not a very athletic person. I have dance experience, that’s what I was hoping for. But it wasn’t enough. Physically, it was incredibly difficult. I got beaten up so often!” – Sasha told.

Now 31-year-old Sasha dreams of serious roles and confidently says she will win an Oscar someday.

“I have an unusual situation. Many actors get major roles after a series of small ones, and I almost immediately got the main”.

About her personal life, the model tries not to tell. She was suspected of having an affair with Milos Bikovich, but the couple did not comment on the relationship. Then Sasha met with French artist Paul Dupy. Now the main man in her life, according to Luss, is a dog breed Welsh Corgi Pembroke – Berry.

Anne Vyalitsyna, 38

In the modeling world her name is Anne V. She is one of the first Russian top models who received the status of Victoria’s Secret Angel. Anne was born in Nizhny Novgorod in a family of doctors.

Vyalitsyna’s career began at the age of 15, and she gained worldwide popularity quite quickly. However, Anna became famous not only for her success in modeling, but also for her romances with star men.

So, she dated Leonardo DiCaprio, was in a relationship with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine for two years, and her romance with famous baseball player Matt Harvey lasted a little over a year.

In 2016, Anna announced her engagement to Adam Kahan, a senior vice president at Yahoo. She later gave birth to his daughter Alaska. But, alas, it didn’t come to the wedding.

Recently, Anna made a shocking confession. The model barely makes ends meet, lives on unemployment benefits and is trying to get alimony from her former fiancé.

As Anna explains, she did not shoot and did not participate in shows for several years, as she was busy raising her daughter. Relationships with Adam did not work out, and eventually Anna was left alone with a child in her arms. Only she began to build a career, as a pandemic occurred, and the income of the model fell sharply.

In pleadings filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Vyalitsyna noted that she earned $431,000 in 2019 and $77,000 in 2020, of which $26,000 was unemployment benefits from the state.

Vyalitsyna told the court that her monthly expenses total $40,284, including $6,815 for housing and $4,833 for her daughter’s education. And all attempts to get the Alaska father to pay child support were ignored by him.

“In 2020, I had 17 job offers, and in the last six months, only six,” Anna indicated in court documents.

By the way, the amount of alimony is very even modest for millionaire Kahan – only $ 8500 per month. Anna plans to spend them on a nanny.

“I have to work, and I can not do it without the help of a nanny,” – explains Anna.

The model is also seeking sole custody and wants the ex to pay for summer camp, school transportation costs, college tuition and $50,000 for legal fees.

At the same time, the supermodel does not hide the fact that Kahan pays for Alaska’s health insurance and her education in a private school in the amount of $ 58,000 a year. Anna herself owns an apartment in the West Village worth $ 2.9 million and has $ 2.6 million in savings.

Daria Strokous, 33

Daria was born in Moscow, but almost immediately her family moved to Africa, to Benin. Here Dasha lived until she was five years old. The future model graduated from school in the capital and studied journalism at Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Strokous began her modeling career in 2007, and a year later one of the American magazines included her in the list of top models of the year. In 2010 Dasha took part in several shows at once – from Dior to Roberto Cavalli.

Strokous also shone in Hollywood. She played a small role of a model infected with a deadly virus, in the drama by Steven Soderbergh “Infection”.

By the way, Daria not only shoots for covers, but likes to shoot herself. She even organized an exhibition and sale of her works, all the proceeds of which were sent to charity.

About personal life Strokous prefers not to spread. But the beauty has been seen more than once in company with Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Evgenia Volodina, 39

The beauty, born in Kazan, is included in the so-called “three V’s” list – they are Natalia Vodianova, Anna Vyalitsyna and Volodina herself.

In fact, about the world career of a model dreamed of Eugenia’s older sister Julia. But fate ordered otherwise.

Little Eugenia, along with a girlfriend went to the local modeling school at the theater “Lik”. For Zhenya it was just a hobby. After graduating from school, Eugenia thought of going to Kazan State Energy University.

But, to her luck, she decided to take part in the casting for “Miss Reklama”. A famous Moscow photographer, who a couple of years earlier had discovered Natalia Vodianova for Europe, came to the contest.

Pictures with Volodina he sent to Paris, and she was invited to work in the fashion capital. Evgenia agreed not immediately. She had already passed part of the entrance exams and was afraid of failure in a foreign land. But after discussing it with her family, she made a final decision – to Paris!

The reality was harsh. The girl received no more than $ 100 a week. This was enough to rent a small apartment, which Eugenia shared with another model, and food. However, the girl persistently looked for work.

Soon castings and auditions gave their result. This time Zhenya was called to New York. And here Volodina’s career went up faster. In 2002, Eugenia together with Natalia Vodianova became the face of the advertising company Gucci.

Volodina admitted that, despite the employment and success, she misses her family and tries to come to her native Kazan as often as possible. The model spent her first major honorarium on a grandiose gift to her parents – she bought them an apartment.

“For my relatives, I am not a chic model at all. I’m just the way I am,” – admitted Evgenia.

Volodina finished her modeling career. Now she lives in Italy, married and raising a son.

Vlada Roslyakova, 36 years old

Omichka was born in the family of a nurse and a policeman. The father of the future star, by the way, was categorically against a modeling career. Vlada herself still wonders how he still decided and gave his consent.

The real name of the blue-eyed blonde is Elena. But the scouts advised to change it to another, more, in their opinion, sounding. Then Roslyakova took as a basis the name of her father, Vladimir, and became Vlada.

The girl grew up in an absolutely simple family. At first, the whole family huddled in a room in the dormitory, then got a modest one-bedroom. Roslyakova herself was going to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a nurse.

One day Vlada was called to a casting model girlfriend. There 16-year-old beauty noticed. Already in 2004, Vlada defiled at the Paris shows and became the muse of French fashion designer Christian Lacroix.

Now Vlada lives in New York, but often comes to Russia. The supermodel is not married, although she admitted in interviews that she was engaged, but it did not work out.