By way of preview, the Love Ball is a charity event benefiting the Naked Heart Foundation. The event features an auction, where The Magic Moment Necklace, designed by model Natalia Vodianova and created by de Beers, will be offered alongside art from Marc Quinn, Anselm Reyle and others.

The Magic Moment Necklace’s central pendant features a 1·1 ct fancy intense pink heart-shaped diamond paired with a 3·06 ct white heart-shaped diamond and hand-set in delicate micropavé. The pendant dances on a chain of white gold studded with white, pink and yellow diamonds (totalling 1·81 ct, 1·65 ct and 1·94 ct respectively); part of the chain is detachable for versatility. The Magic Moment Necklace can be worn either as an intricate statement or a sophisticated pendant, says De Beers.

Says Vodianova in a release, ‘The Magic Moment Necklace was inspired by that precious instant when two people meet and immediately connect. Two stunning De Beers diamond hearts fit perfectly together becoming one—symbolic of a great love. I was reminded of the famous love poem by Pushkin and of the first playground we opened when I saw the children’s happiness and excitement. That was a magic moment I treasure and I instantly knew that the Naked Heart Foundation would be an integral part of me.’

For further information about the Love Ball and the Naked Heart Foundation, visit www.nakedheart.org/loveball.

Source: Lucire Insider.

Gallery Links
Appearances & Events > 2010 > Finch & Partners Pre-BAFTA Party

Outtakes from Zoo have been added to the photoshoots gallery. Enjoy!

Gallery Links
Photoshoots > Magazine Prints & Outtakes > Zoo December 2009

She looks like the girl who has it all, but supermodel Natalia Vodianova is still haunted by the poverty of her early life. Now she plans to build 500 playgrounds in her native Russia.

Although it’s 12 years since she left Russia, Natalia Vodianova still gets homesick, especially when she hears the language. “It’s odd because I even think in English now – though I sometimes dream in Russian, depending on who’s in the dream and what’s going on. But Russia has made me who I am: romantic, generous and a little melancholic.”

The 27-year-old model grew up in the grimly industrial city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, in the sort of poverty that saw her single mother hold down four jobs while Vodianova raised her two sisters, one of whom, Oksana, has cerebral palsy. She was spotted at 15 by a model scout and taught herself English in just three months. She moved to Paris at 17, and by 22 she was a British Vogue cover star, married to property magnate Justin Portman and happily settled in the UK with their first-born, Lucas (who’s since been joined by siblings Neva and Viktor). At this point, when most of us would have settled back to enjoy life’s good fortune, Vodianova set up her own charity.

Unlike celebrities who blunder good-naturedly into complex political situations or try to solve global warming with a charity single, Vodianova’s Naked Heart Foundation has a simple and personal goal. Founded in response to the tragic Beslan school siege in 2004, the charity provides playgrounds for Russian children: 39 have been built so far, and the target is 500. “I see the importance of play in my own children and the lack of it in me,” Vodianova says. She estimates that, due to her family situation, her own childhood ended when she was six. “I would have loved somewhere to go when I was a little girl, somewhere I felt secure and that made me feel like a child. We adults have worries, but we forget that the little ones have them, too.”

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Gallery Links
Advertising Catalogues > YSL Manifesto S/S 2010

Gallery Links
Fashion Shows > 2010 – Fall / Winter Ready-to-wear > Hakaan Tildirim

The forum has a new address. You can now access it by using this link:

The model tells why she loves brogues and wants thicker hair.

How does being a model affect your style?
Being a model created my style. I wasn’t aware of fashion before I started working, so my inspiration comes from the clothes I’ve worn and people I’ve met.

Which would you say has been your most seminal fashion campaign?
All my images for Calvin Klein: I have worked with them for so long that this relationship has come to define my career. I don’t think too much about it, though, just as I don’t let seeing my face on billboards daunt me.

What is your biggest fashion irritation?
There is a strange imbalance in attitudes to fashion: people either take it too seriously or fail to acknowledge its importance. Clothes define who you are but they shouldn’t take over your life.

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Thanks to fenouka, I’ve added scans from an old interview Natalia did for Evening Standard magazine back in 2007. Enjoy!

Gallery Links
Covers > 2007
Editorials > 2007 > Evening Standard (April 13, 2007)

EDIT: I’ve been told by a few visitors they cannot open the files. It seems to be a problem with those using the Opera browser, but if you’re using Mozilla or IE and are still unable to view them, please let me know by leaving a comment here.