I was in Paris, Milan and London from '89 until '91, and I did mostly runway modeling. I know there's so many people out there looking for pictures, but this was way before the age of the Internet, sorry!
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I was discovered in Paris when I was there on a school trip at the age of 13. After that, my mom came in contact with Elite Amsterdam; then I started modeling.
The whole time I was modeling, I had a place in Paris, and a place in New York, and I was really single.
My younger years of modeling were really just filled with fun trips. I was doing catalogues for Alexander's and Bloomingdale's.
My neighborhood now is all 21-year-old European supermodels. I go to the international newsstand on the corner, and they're all looking for their pictures in 'Italian Vogue.'
I did a lot of modeling in the U.K. A lot of it wasn't high fashion because I don't have the body or the face for high fashion modeling. I did a lot of sportswear, swimwear, and beachwear.
I never thought of a career of as a model, and it was a total surprise for me when I won the contest and became Miss Chelyabinsk. Then I started modelling in Paris.
I actually started modeling in Ethiopia, because that's where I grew up, and I started out by just doing little fashion shows for school, and I liked it so much that I started pursuing it.
I was picked up on a London street by a model agent. She took me to her office and then sent me to Paris to work in shows. It was supposed to be two weeks, but I ended up living there with my Zimbabwean boyfriend. I made enough money modeling and acting in French movies to buy a nice flat.
Heading to Paris when I was 17 and modelling exposed me to high fashion, which influenced me to dress on-trend - not extravagantly, but always in fashion.
I grew up in the Ukraine and then I went to Paris in 1996. I went there because there was a modeling agency that invited me there to work so I thought, 'Sure.'