Natalia Vodianova

Biography:

Natalia Mikhailovna Vodianova is a Russian model and philanthropist who now permanently resides in the United Kingdom. She has achieved considerable success as a runway, editorial and advertising campaign model. Her success has been noted by Forbes, where she was stated as being the third-highest earning model in 2012.

Natalia grew up in an underprivileged area in Russia with her mother and two half sisters, one of whom has cerebral palsy. As a teenager, Vodianova helped her mother sell fruit on the street and later set up her own fruit stand with a friend to help her family out of poverty.

Vodianova is a founder and the president of the ‘Naked Heart Foundation’ a philanthropic organisation that strives to provide a safe and inspiring environment in which to play for every child living in urban Russia. She was inspired to create the charity after visiting Russia with her son Lucas and finding there were no suitable places for children to play. The organisation built its first play park in 2006 in Nizhny Novgorod. The Naked Heart Foundation has since built 38 more. Natalia states that their mission is to ensure that every child has the two things they need for a happy, fulfilling childhood – a loving family and a safe and stimulating place to play. The Naked Heart Foundation continues to strive and make sure that no child with living parents ends up in an orphanage or a children’s home. They are working to tackle the stigma of disability, so that no parent feels pressured to give up a disabled child. By working with families who have made the challenging decision to keep their disabled child at home, they help in giving them free access to a full range of services and the support of specialists familiar with international best practice and modern technology.

To date, Vodianova has walked in more than 175 runway shows for U.S. and European based designers including Shiatzy Chen, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, L'Oréal, David Yurman, Marc Jacobs, Pepe Jeans, Diane von Fürstenberg, Chanel, Guerlain and many others. Photographed by Steven Meisel, she was presented on the September 2004 cover of American Vogue as one of the "Models of the Moment". As of May 2009, Vodianova has appeared on the cover of British Vogue seven times. She made her first appearance on the cover of the U.S. Vogue in the September 2004 edition alongside eight other models, and then appeared as the solo cover subject of the July 2007 edition of the magazine.

As an actress, Vodianova appears in Roman Coppola's 2001 film CQ. In September 2008, Vodianova stated that she was not interested in filmmaking because of her three children; however, she appears in Probka. She also has credits in the 2010 remake of the film Clash of the Titans whereNatalia has been CGI-enhanced to play Medusa, the mythological snake-haired mortal gorgon with powers to turn those who look at her to stone. Vodianova landed her first leading acting role in a 2012 film adaptation of Albert Cohen's 1968 novel Belle du Seigneur, co-starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Vodianova is part of Vogues's history, in what marks the magazine's first multi-cover in the publication's 95-years, landing one of the three May Vogue UK covers in celebration of the most anticipated wedding of the year - the Royal wedding.