Vicky Kaya

Modeling

Kaya has been modeling since the age of 14. She was spotted in the street and from there grew one of the most successful careers in the fashion world, appearing in many catalogue bookings, campaigns, magazines and television commercials worldwide. At age 18 she moved to Paris where she lived for four years and her career took off. She also worked in Milan, Germany and London. Her appearances are diverse, from the catwalk to television acting. For seven consecutive years she had been based in New York City and was represented by Next and Wilhelmina Models New York. In recent years, she has represented a number of companies in major TV campaigns in the USA, Europe and Greece.

In the USA and Europe she has done major campaigns for Johnson and Johnson (USA, National Campaign), L’Oreal Paris (France and Eastern Europe), Dove (Europe), Virginia Slims (USA, National Campaign), Garnier Paris, Nivea Body - Nivea Make-up - Nivea Hair (Europe), Schwarzkopf and C&A (Europe). In Greece, she has top contracts with Lancia (Greece), Nivea Greece (Beiersdorf Hellas) and Vodafone Greece, and is their main campaign spokesperson. In May 2007, Vicky became the spokeswoman for the famous Italian car company Lancia for two consecutive years in Greece. During this time she walked the red carpet at the Mostra del cinema di Venezia (the Venice Film Festival).

Move into television and other recent activities

Vicky has hosted numerous events including the 2005 Thessaloniki International Film Festival. In 2005 the Greek media reported that Kaya, along with Greek-American model and TV presenter Maria Menounos, was one of the finalists which ERT (Greek national broadcaster) has considered for co-hosting the Athens 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2005, Vicky made her acting debut on the cinema playing the leading female role in the blockbuster movie “Sirens in the Aegean”. The film was directed by Nikos Perakis - one of the most important Greek filmmakers - and became one of the top-grossing movies at the Greek box office, selling 1,700,000 tickets. At present, she is taking part in the sequel of the movie “Sirens in the Aegean” by the director Nikos Perakis and the same cast. The movie Sirenes sti Steria was to be released in theatres in October 2011. In recognition of Vicky’s performance in the “Sirens in the Aegean”, she was awarded "Model of the Year 2005" at the Life & Style Women of the Year Awards 2006. It was a busy year! Also in 2006, Vicky lent her voice to the Greek version of the Pixar/Disney movie production Cars as "Sally".

For two consecutive years (2007–08) she played the lead female role in the musical The Producers by Mel Brooks. She received Best Newcomer at the Women of the Year Life & Style Awards 2007. Since 2007, she has diversified into television, a move which led her to host a number of extremely popular TV shows in Greece. In 2007 and 2008 she hosted So You Think You Can Dance.She also hosted Next Top Model, a Greek reality television show. Nowadays she hosts a Greek reality television show called "Shopping Star"

Philanthropy

In 2006 she issued an eponymous photo album, the earnings of which are donated to ailing children in Greece. In 2007, she founded Vicky and Friends, a non-profit charity which works with small charities, to boost their profiles and fundraising campaigns. She also is involved with Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Hellas. Fashion Workshop, in which industry professionals share their experience and knowledge with newer generations to create a hub in the international fashion industry. Some of her other notable projects as a TV hostess; the game show “Wanna Bet” in 2008, “Morning Coffee” – Greece's long-running popular morning show - in 2009, “Miss Greece Beauty Pageant” in 2009 and 2010 and “Madwalk by Vodafone” in 2011.