Natalia Vodianova

It's difficult to believe that cute Natalia Vodianova, here modeling lingerie for French company Etam, is the mother of three children!



Natalia Vodianova with her family; husband Justin Portman, son Lucas, and daughter Neva. A third son named Viktor was born to the couple in September 2007. Vodianova married British real estate heir Justin when she was only 19 and he was 32; as a young girl she remembers being skinny and dorky. "My classmates were always teasing me. The boys avoided me; I had trouble finding a boyfriend."



Born in Nizhniy Novgorod, western Russia, on 28 February 1982 Natalia Vodianova had to work in a fruit stand at age 14 to support her family. "I always knew that something would happen. I'm not going to stay poor and in a bad situation forever," she told Vanity Fair. Then she turned 15 and began to be noticed: "Men began to pay attention to me.....not the boys in my school, rather grown men."

Vodianova enrolled in modeling school, learned to speak English, and moved to Paris at 17. She has since modeled for Louis Vuitton, L’Oréal, David Yurman, Marc Jacobs, Miss Sixty, Pepe Jeans, Diane von Fürstenberg, Chanel and Kamiseta. At age 23 Natalia became the face of Calvin Klein and was earning million-dollar paychecks.



Natalia Vodianova attended the Venice screening of Valentino: The Last Emperor wearing a simple white goddess gown and pearl necklace. "Russian women are treated in a very Arabic way in our country," the outspoken model told the Telegraph. "You are expected to give birth to children, look pretty and shut up. But we are very strong and intelligent people: there are a few of us out there. My whole life is breaking the stereotype of typical Russian women looking for money."

Natalia lives in the UK and the US mostly but runs a charity "Naked Heart Foundation", which builds playgrounds for children in Russia. Vodianova's own childhood had some heartbreaking stories: "When my sister Oksana was born, I remember how all friends told my mother to give the ill child away. My father left us at once - he didn't want to have an invalid child. Grandmother and grandfather prefered to live separately. Me, my mother and sister were left absolutely alone. We had nothing but the four walls and a couch, we had to get a credit to buy a table. I was very scared, but at the same time excited - because now me and my mom were like best friends! We used to survive in a cruel world together".



Natalia Vodianova, Carmen Kass, and Karolina Kurkova get their feet wet for Vanity Fair magazine. Known in the fashion world as a "good girl" who is devoted to her family, Natalia counts Mariacarla Boscono, Alek Wek, Sophie Dahl, Carmen Kass, Vicky Andren, Michelle Alves, and Eva Herzigova among her close friends.



On the left Natalia Vodianova wears a poplin shirt and a cotton tourist skirt by Prada. "I have passion for what I do," she told the Telegraph. "I am confident and determined on shoots, but I am actually really shy in real life. I don't have confidence when it comes to my looks. I am only confident in front of the camera or when I am talking about my charity. I can get water out of a stone when it comes to things that matter to me."



Natalia Vodianova eating homemade cream-cake. She describes caviar, chocolate and cheese as her guilty pleasures and insists that she has never been anorexic and enjoys eating. "My husband and I bring home from Russia honey and varen'e [Russian jam] - we buy them from old ladies at train stations. Justin loves my schi [a meat/chicken soup made with sauerkraut]. And vodka, of course!"






Vogue Paris compiled a list of the top 30 models of the decade, placing Natalia Vodianova at number six. The pretty Russian girl also made Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed List for 2009 and Elle France's list for most fashionable. Natalia Vodianova has a figure of 34-24-34, even after bearing three children, and she is 5'9.5" tall. On wearing lingerie Vodianova says, "A woman has to be elegant and not wear it in a vulgar way."