Паулина Поризкова: от чехословацкой модели до иконы стиля.

Czech born fashion model and author (born 1965)

Paulina Porizkova (born Pavlína Pořízková, ; 9 April 1965) is an author and former fashion model. Born in Czechoslovakia, she relocated to Sweden in 1973. She began modelling in Paris at age 15. In 1984, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. As an actress, she made her film debut in Anna (1987).

Porizkova was born on 9 April 1965 in Prostějov, then in Czechoslovakia, to anti Soviet dissident parents, Anna Pořízková and Jiří Pořízka. She was left in the care of her maternal grandmother after her parents fled to Sweden to escape the Warsaw Pact invasion. Czechoslovak authorities would not allow her parents to reclaim her, and the ensuing battle was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. Porizkova rose to become a top model in Paris during the early 1980s, and her fame spread to the United States when she posed in swimwear for Sports Illustrated. In 1984, at 18 years old, she became the first woman from Central Europe to be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She was the second woman (after Christie Brinkley) to be featured on the swimsuit issue's front cover in consecutive years (1984 and 1985). Her first appearance as a model in the magazine was in 1983. Harper's Bazaar named her one of its ten most beautiful women in 1992 and American Photo magazine in its first issue declared her to be the model of the 1980s. Porizkova appeared on the covers of numerous magazines around the world during the 1980s and 1990s, including Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Self, Cosmopolitan, and Glamour. She has been featured in advertising campaigns for Chanel, Versace, Hermes, Christian Dior, Oscar De La Renta, Mikimoto, Perry Ellis, Laura Biagiotti, Anne Klein, Ellen Tracy, Barneys New York, Ann Taylor, Guerlain, and Revlon and appeared on the runway for Calvin Klein. In 1988, Porizkova won what was then the highest paying modeling contract: a $6,000,000 contract with Estée Lauder, replacing Willow Bay. The black and white television and print advertising campaign won praise from critics. The Estée Lauder makeover transformed Porizkova's public image from a swimsuit model to that of European sophisticate and she remained the company's face until 1995. She soon landed another multimillion dollar contract, with Escada.