Natalya Vodyanova is a Russian top model.
According to Vodyanova, Russian culture remains a part of her children's lives: she reads to them in Russian and shows them Russian cartoons, although her older children speak to her primarily in English.[1]
Name: Natalya Mikhaylovna Vodyanova
Date of birth: February 28, 1982
Place of birth: City of Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod
Place of residence: New York City
Education: incomplete secondary school
Work experience: At the age of 14, Natalya began selling fruit at one of the bus stops in Avtozavod to help her mother raise two sisters, one of whom had cerebral palsy.
At fifteen, she submitted her application to a Nizhny Novgorod modeling agency.
At sixteen, she attended a casting call held by the French modeling agency "ViVa" in Nizhny Novgorod, where she caught the eye of noted photographer Aleksey Vasilyev — her face struck him as remarkably fresh and untouched.
This is how Vodyanova ended up first in Moscow, and then in December 1999 left for Paris to compete in a contest held by the French agency Madison.
In Paris she had to work hard, attending several castings every day in different parts of the city. She often had to make do with food at buffet receptions — where you can't eat much, but at least you keep your figure — while sending her meager earnings back home.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Still, Natalya didn't have to wait long with her fishing rod. She received an invitation to take part in New York Fashion Week. After that, Vodyanova's rise was meteoric. She walked the runway for Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Valentino, and many other fashion houses. She appeared on the covers of the most prominent fashion magazines, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, and ELLE. She was the face of the L'Oreal Paris cosmetics brand, and also took part in advertising campaigns for Louis Vuitton, David Yurman, Marc Jacobs, Miss Sixty, Pepe Jeans, Diane von Fürstenberg, Chanel, and Gucci. She was photographed for the Pirelli Calendar.
In 2003 she officially became the face of Calvin Klein. Until 2007 she ranked among the three highest-paid supermodels in the world, surpassing Kate Moss in total earnings. After the birth of her third child she decided to step back from her modeling career and devote herself to her family and charitable work — though she still agrees to take to the runway or participate in a photo shoot for a sufficiently large fee.
Marital status: her husband was collector and artist Justin Trevor Berkley Portman, an English lord (they met at a private party); they have three children — son Lucas (born 2001), daughter Neva (born 2006), and son Victor (born 2007). Vodyanova subsequently married French businessman Antoine Arnault, with whom she is raising two sons, Maxim and Roman. In May 2026 Vodyanova announced her sixth pregnancy, appearing with a visibly rounded belly on the cover of French Vogue. She spoke about her decision to give birth at 44 in an interview with French Vogue. In September 2026 Vodyanova gave birth to her sixth child, a daughter; the birth was announced by her friend, television presenter Yekaterina Mtsituridze.[2][1]
Measurements (unchanged, whatever happens!): Height — 176 cm Bust — 86.5 cm Waist — 61 cm Hips — 86.5 cm
Hobby: charity work. Knowing firsthand the challenges of raising children with disabilities, Natalya Vodyanova is actively involved in philanthropy. She founded her own foundation, "The Naked Heart Foundation," to build playgrounds in provincial cities across Russia.
At a press conference in Nizhny Novgorod, the editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Playboy once said: "I visited your Vodyanova at her apartment in Manhattan, and I met her husband — everything is just fine for her there… And she's a real trooper, I'll tell you that. Such success, and yet fame hasn't gone to her head at all!…"
Driving through the streets of Avtozavodsky District of Nizhny Novgorod, you can spot cheerful billboards with slogans like "These are your people, District!" or "Best milling machine operator at the plant" and so forth. To be honest, you wouldn't call those billboards an adornment. Whether the milling machine operator had one too many before the photo was taken, or the posters are just badly made — it's hard to say…
And yet, one fellow native of Avtozavod is truly known the world over — yes, THE WHOLE WORLD — precisely for her beauty and determination (or rather for those qualities in the reverse order). But she has no place on any billboard among the district's most distinguished residents.
Perhaps because advertising posters featuring the face and figure of NATALYA VODYANOVA already adorn the most fashionable international magazines, shops, and city streets around the globe. So, lest she get too big for her boots, her home district — where she was born and grew up — has left her out of that particular honor.
Interesting Facts
- Natalya Vodyanova is of Erzya descent on her father's side.
Links
- Photo shoots of Natalya Vodyanova
source lost
The page no longer opens, and no copy exists in web archives — neither we nor the original site managed to save it in time. We are keeping the address where it used to be: the information in the article is based on it.
http://friends.nnov.ru/tag/natalya-vodyanova
Sources
- starhit.ru — On 2 September 2026, Vodyanova and her husband Antoine Arnault welcomed a daughter, given the triple name Anna Natalya Larisa. She is the model's sixth child. (archive)
- NN.RU — As of 2026, Natalya Vodyanova has six children: three by her first husband, English aristocrat Justin Portman, and three by French billionaire Antoine Arnault.