Natalya Sergeyevna Polevshchikova or Natasha Poly for short was born on July 12, 1985 in Perm, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union and began modeling locally in 2000 taking the second prize in a model search competition in Moscow. She made her runway debut, walking for Emanuel Ungaro in 2004. The year would prove to be her breakout year; she walked in 54 fashion shows in cities like Milan, Paris, and New York City, and graced the cover of French Vogue twice consecutively.
She is a household name in fashion and can easily be regarded as one of the worlds finest models. I thought I've seen it all but she continues to surprise. In this collection, she is photographed by Mario Sorrenti and boy what a fantastic set it is. Something that could easily be tagged as soft porn, this set clearly shows that showing skin does not mean porn. Such beautiful shots and elegant moods it shows what natural lighting and stolen moments feel like. All the shots feel voyeuristic as if one is watching a neighbor disrobe but in an almost ritualistic manner wherein you are captured and frozen in the moment.
This is me and this is how I see my photography will go years from now. I just wish I will get there and I pray the right models come my way. Sigh..... Is all I can say.... Enjoy!
Toink! :o)
More on Natasha (courtesy of Wikipedia)
Since 2004, Poly has appeared in many advertisement campaigns, including Gucci, Prada, Lanvin, Fendi,Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Dsquared2, Sonia Rykiel, Nine West, Proenza Schouler, H&M, Printemps,Blumarine, Jil Sander, Nina Ricci, Missoni, Shiatzy Chen, Calvin Klein, Givenchy, Tse, Balmain, Neiman Marcus, Jimmy Choo, MaxMara, Alberta Ferretti, JOOP!, Dolce & Gabbana, and others and has walked the runway for notable brands such as Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Miu Miu, Gucci, Prada,Versace, Victoria's Secret and many other blue chip fashion labels. Poly has walked for the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show twice, in 2005 and 2006. In 2008 alone, she appeared in seven advertisement campaigns through the fall/winter 2008-2009 season (Nina Ricci, Jil Sander, Blumarine, Balmain, COS, Tse, and Givenchy) and opened numerous runway shows in the spring/summer 2009 season.
Poly was one of the faces to land in one of the fourteen covers of V magazine September 2008 issue. Each cover boasts a head shot of a famous model, either from the new crop of leading models (Agyness Deyn, Lara Stone, Anja Rubik, Daria Werbowy etc.) or the supermodel era (Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova), it was lensed by duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. In July 2008, RussianVogue dedicated the issue to Poly and in August 2008, March 2009 she appeared on the cover of the same magazine. Also she was touted by American Vogue in 2009 as one of the faces of the moment. She has also appeared on the cover of Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, American, German, Australian, and French Vogue. Poly has appeared in editorials for Russian, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and American Vogue, Numero, I-D Magazine, V, W, Interview, and MUSE.
Poly has been the number one model on Fashion Television's First Face countdown three times consecutively (Spring 2008, Fall 2008 and Spring 2009). And she has been placed 7th (Spring 2007), 4th (Fall 2009 and Spring 2010) and 5th (Fall 2010).
The fashion art magazine MUSE dedicated their fall 2009 issue to Poly and she was photographed by Sølve Sundsbø, Terry Richardson and Craig McDean. The magazine also commissioned art from Jeff Koons,Cédric Rivrain, Richard Phillips, Billy Sullivan, Marco Brambilla and Chantal Joffe.
She is signed with Women Management in New York, Paris, and Milan; Select Model Management in London; Mega Model Agency in Hamburg; and Traffic Models in Barcelona. Also as of 2012 she is ranked #2 on models.com Top 50 Women along with Joan Smalls. Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Poly is featured in the 2011 Pirelli Calendar photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. She is also featured in the 2012 Pirelli Calendar photographed by Mario Sorrenti.
In 2012, Poly signed a contract with L'Oreal Paris and is one of the Beauty Ambassadors for the brand.
