Karolína Kurková, also Karolina Kurkova (born February 28, 1984)
[3] is a
Czech model, best known as a former
Victoria's Secret Angel, and actress.
Mario Testino praised the "proportions of her body and her face, as well as her energy level", which he said "made her a model who could fit almost into any moment".
[4] Vogue editor
Anna Wintour called her the "next supermodel".
[4] Kurková is among the world's top-earning models, She placed 6th in the
Forbes annual list of the highest-earning models.
[5][6] Karolína Kurková was born in
Děčín,
Czechoslovakia, to Josef Kurka, a Czech basketball player, and a
Slovak mother.
[7] While Kurková was young, she was made fun of for her height.
[8] But after a friend sent photos
of Kurková to an agency in
Prague, at age 15, she landed a
runway appearance, as well as gigs for commercial and print advertising.
[3] She later traveled to
Milan to gain more experience
[7] and signed a modeling contract with
Miuccia Prada.
[9] In September 1999, Kurková appeared in the American edition of fashion and lifestyle magazine
Vogue, and, after moving to
New York City at the age of 17, graced the cover of the February 2001 edition.
[7] Following her Vogue cover, Kurková became recognized at
haute couture fashion shows. Additionally, the lingerie brand
Victoria's Secret chose her to be a part of 2000's
fashion show webcast, though she was only 16 at the time.
[10] Prominent fashion houses such as
Yves Saint Laurent signed Kurková to contracts, while print campaigns for
Tommy Hilfiger,
Valentino,
Louis Vuitton,
John Galliano,
Chanel,
Christian Dior,
Hugo Boss,
Versace,
H&M, and others helped expose her even more. In the 2002
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, she wore the "Star of Victoria"
Fantasy Bra, worth almost $10 million. Other runway credits of hers include
Alberta Ferretti,
Alexander
McQueen,
Balenciaga,
Calvin Klein,
Carolina Herrera,
Chanel,
Christian Dior,
Dolce & Gabbana,
Givenchy,
Gucci,
Karl Lagerfeld,
Louis Vuitton,
Marc Jacobs,
Prada,
Ralph Lauren,
Stella McCartney,
Versace, and
Vera Wang.
[10], Kurková made her film debut alongside
Frankie Muniz,
Harvey Keitel, and
Amber Valletta in Howard Himelstein's 2007
coming-of-age dramedy,
My Sexiest Year.
[19] She played
Courtney A. Kreiger / Cover Girl in the live action 2009
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra film.
[20] She was a guest judge on the
fifteenth season of
America's Next Top Model and
fourth season of
Germany's Next Top Model. She appeared on the 2008
Academy of Country Music Awards along with
Dwight Yoakam in presenting the "Top Female Vocalist" award to
Carrie Underwood. In September 2010, Karolína guest-starred on
NBC's
Chuck season 4 episode, "
Chuck Versus the Suitcase". She played Sofia Stepanova, an enemy spy posing as a supermodel.
[21] Kurková appeared alongside
German model
Eva Padberg on the
reality television show Das perfekte Model, a model casting-show similar to
Germany's Next Top Model. The show aired in spring 2012 on German television broadcast
VOX.
[22][23] The show was canceled due to low rating in summer 2012. Kurková made a guest appearance on television series
30 Rock in Season 6, Episode 9 titled "Leap Day" in February 2012.
[24] Kurková appeared as herself in an episode of
Person of Interest, in a subplot where the character of Detective Fusco (
Kevin Chapman) protects Kurková from Armenian gangsters. The subplot, which is interspersed throughout the episode, takes up less than two minutes of screen time and is played for comic relief.
[25] Karolina is also a supermodel coach on OXYGEN'S "The Face", alongside
Naomi Campbell and
Coco Rocha.
Source: Wikipedia,
Source: Smartologie
