Natasha Poly

Early life and career beginnings

Poly was born on July 12, 1985 in Perm, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union and began modeling locally in 2000. She was discovered in Perm by Mauro Palmentieri and invited to Moscow to participate in the Russian model search competition "New Model Today", where she took the second prize. She made her runway debut with Why Not Model Agency after walking for Emanuel Ungaro in 2004. The year would prove to be her breakout year; she walked in 54 fashion shows in Milan, Paris and New York City, and modelled for the cover of Vogue Paris twice consecutively.

Career

Since her breakout year in 2004, Poly has appeared in many advertisement campaigns, including Gucci, Prada, Versace, Lanvin, Calvin Klein Jeans, Givenchy, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Balmain, Dsquared2, Sonia Rykiel, Nine West, Proenza Schouler, H&M, Printemps, Blumarine, Kurt Geiger, Jil Sander, Nina Ricci, Isabel Marant, Missoni, Neiman Marcus, L'Oreal Paris, Jimmy Choo, MaxMara, Alberta Ferretti, JOOP!, PHI, Juicy Couture, La Perla, FRAME Denim, Versace Sports Line, Emilio Pucci and Dolce & Gabbana. Poly has walked the runway for designers such as Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Miu Miu, Gucci, Prada, Versace and Victoria's Secret.

Poly has been photographed by fashion photographers such as Helmut Newton, Steven Meisel, Mert and Marcus, Steven Klein, Mario Sorrenti, Mario Testino, David Sims, Inez and Vinoodh, Peter Lindbergh, Patrick Demarchelier, Nick Knight, Karl Lagerfeld, Annie Leibovitz, Craig McDean, Hans Feurer, Terry Richardson, Norman Jean Roy, Camilla Akrans, Alasdair McLellan, Ellen Von Unwerth, Emma Summerton, Josh Olins, Mikael Jansson, Daniel Jackson, Tom Munro, Willy Vanderperre, Michael Thompson, Luigi and Iango, Sølve Sundsbø, Giampaolo Sgura, Richard Bush, Victor Demarchelier, and Cuneyt Akeroglu among others.

Three fashion magazines has dedicated their entire issue to her, a very very rare feat for models. These are: Vogue Russia(July 2008), MUSE Magazine (Natasha Obsessed Issue - Fall 2009) and Vogue Espana(November 2011).

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 2008–09 season for Nina Ricci, Jil Sander, Blumarine, Balmain, H&M, Tse and Givenchy and opened numerous runway shows in the spring/summer 2009 season. Poly has endorsed and appeared in advertisements for fragrances including Givenchy's Ange ou Demon, Gucci by Gucci Fragrance, and Jimmy Choo Flash.

Poly was one of the faces to headline one of the fourteen covers of V magazine's September 2008 issue. Each cover featured a head shot of a famous model, either from the new crop of leading models (Agyness Deyn, Lara Stone, Anja Rubik, Daria Werbowy, Masha Novoselova 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, Russian Vogue 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 covers of Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, Brazilian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, American, German, Australian, Italian and French Vogue. Poly has appeared in editorials for Russian, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and American Vogue as well as covers for Numero, I-D Magazine, V, W, Interview, MUSE and Harper's Bazaar (Russia, China, Spain, Korea, Greece).

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).

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 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.

Poly was part of the Versace Spring/Summer 2016 Campaign, alongside Gigi Hadid and Raquel Zimmermann, shot by Steven Klein. She also appeared in a commercial for Mercedes-Benz, captured by Jeff Mark, entitled 'Obsession with an Icon’, Natasha fronted in a blue latex clad to the Mercedes-Benz SL car. She also became the face for Kurt Geiger's Fall/Winter 2016 Campaign. In 2017, Poly became one of the front faces and muse in Olivier Rousteing's Balmain for the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter 2017 Campaign. Poly also returned for Dsquared2 in their campaign for F/W 17 co starring other models such as Joan Smalls and Sasha Pivovarova.

She is considered one of the "New Supers" by Models.com and has been featured on 54 different Vogue covers as of September 2017.

Personal life

Poly married Dutch businessman Peter Bakker on April 16, 2011 in Saint-Tropez. On May 13th 2013 Poly gave birth to a daughter named Aleksandra Christina. Among the best friends of Natasha are top model Eugenia Volodina and popular Russian musician DJ Smash.