Karolina Kurkova

Karolina Kurkova finds herself in the enviable position of being one of the most sought after models for editorial and runway as well as mainstream and consumer campaigns. She was named one of the world’s “50 Most Beautiful People,” by People Magazine for the second time and remains the youngest model ever to win ‘Model of the Year’ at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. Adding to this, in July 2007, Karolina was listed by Forbes as one of the top-earning supermodels in the world.

After being spotted by a model scout in 1999, Karolina was signed to an exclusive Prada/Miu Miu contract, a plum project for a fresh-on-the-scene young model, and modeling snowballed into an explosive career. Karolina has since starred in fashion and beauty campaigns for such internationally iconic clients as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Celine, Helmut Lang, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana/ D&G, Versace/ Versus, Christian Dior beauty, Tommy Hilfiger, Express, Victoria’s Secret, Missoni, Blumarine and Anna Molinari, to name a few. She has made over 367 runway appearances for such diverse designers as Michael Kors, Helmut Lang, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, Alexander Wang and Calvin Klein. Karolina was chosen to wear the $15 million jeweled Fantasy Bra for Victoria’s Secret in 2002 and she also appears in the prestigious Pirelli calendar.

Karolina made the move to New York in the spring of 2000 and landed her first American Vogue cover in February 2001, becoming the youngest model ever to do so. Having appeared on that prestigious cover many times since then, she even earned the highest praise from Vogue editor Anna Wintour who called her the “next supermodel,” the only model who has broken that boundary toward fashion icon in recent times.

The appearance in American Vogue gained her momentum as a worldwide phenomenon, with covers of French, German, Spanish and Australian Vogue, not to mention a first-time-ever series of British Vogue covers following in close succession. Karolina has also graced the covers of every major worldwide fashion publication—from W and Harper’s Bazaar to Numero, international Marie Claire and ID. In 2004, Karolina crossed over into men’s magazines, gracing the cover of GQ’s “Summer Beach Issue.” In her first few years of modeling alone, Karolina was featured on no less than 52 covers.

Karolina has worked with the who’s who of top photographers in the fashion industry, including: Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier, Ellen von Unwerth, Mario Testino, Michael Thompson, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Irving Penn, David Simms, Steven Klein, David Bailey, Arthur Elgort, Nathaniel Goldberg, Elaine Constantine, Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts and David LaChapelle.

Not only is Karolina acclaimed in the world of fashion, the young model has entered the entertainment industry as well. Karolina made her big screen debut in the summer of 2009 in movie, “G.I Joe: The Rise of the Cobra.”

Having grown up in the small Czech town of Decin, 100 miles from Prague, Karolina comes from a close-knit family. Karolina credits her solid upbringing and unfailing family support as her foundation and source of her level-headedness, confidence and self-sufficiency. She is currently on the Ambassador Committee of Free Arts (www.freearts.org), an organization that provides arts programs for abused and neglected children in New York City. Additionally, Karolina’s Beautiful Life Fund works in conjunction with the Global Youth Action Network, an organization that aims to support, engage and encourage young people to take positive action to improve their communities in almost 200 countries around the world.

Karolina plans to continue modeling for several more years, looking forward to collaborating with both new and old partners for creative, innovative and daring projects that demonstrate her versatility and innate sense of adventure.

Karolina and her husband, film producer Archie Drury, currently reside in New York City with their son, Tobin Jack Drury.