Three men of Natalia Vodianova, or How the first love became fateful in the career of a supermodel

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In early January 2020, Natalia Vodianova accepted the marriage proposal of her civil husband Antoine Arnault. A girl from a very poor family became a living embodiment of the tale of Cinderella, having managed to reach unprecedented heights, become successful, famous and rich. And few people know that a simple young man from Nizhny Novgorod played a crucial role in her career. However, each of her men left their mark on the life of the model.

Cinderella from Nizhny Novgorod

The childhood of the future supermodel was not at all carefree. Mom Larisa Viktorovna, when her daughter was not yet a year old, realized that she would have to raise the child herself. Larisa Viktorovna twice tried to arrange her personal life, but as a result she was left alone with three daughters in her arms.

Oksana, the middle daughter, doctors recommended to mother Natalia Vodianova to send to an orphanage. The baby was sick with autism and cerebral palsy, and required constant care. But neither mom nor Natasha had the thought of abandoning a loved one. Natalia, as soon as she grew up a little, began to help her mother.

She simply had no time to study: an 11-year-old girl worked all the time. She sold vegetables in the market with her mother, helped her raise her younger sisters. Classmates did not like Natalia too much, even laughed at her poverty. Many years later, the supermodel will say that she really learned to smile only at the age of 17.

When she was only 14, the future star of the world catwalk met her first love. The girl's chosen one was Sergei Sazanov, who was only two years older than Natalia. Ironically, it was he who helped the girl to take her first steps in the fashion world.

Sergei himself dreamed of breaking out of Nizhny Novgorod and moving to Moscow, and he saw the only opportunity for this in his career as a model. He himself took part in shows, and once decided to bring Natasha to a modeling agency. The girl did not consider herself a beauty at all, but the modeling business in the distant 1990s was a symbol of wealth and prosperity. So 16-year-old Natalia ended up in the modeling agency of Evgenia Chkalova. And then, as the model herself said, "she was just lucky."

At first, this whole idea seemed to Natasha a failure. She did not have feline grace, did not always fall into the rhythm. And her figure was far from ideal for this kind of activity. At castings and shows, she was practically not noticed. But then the Moscow photographer Alexei Vasiliev, who worked for the Viva Model Management agency, drew attention to her.

The girl was not afraid to move to Moscow, and then to Paris. As Natalia Vodianova herself admits, "a person who has nothing to lose has nothing to fear." She was supported by Sergei Sazanov, assuring that such a chance should not be missed. Moreover, the girl did not stay in Moscow, but very quickly went to conquer Paris. But her paths with Sergei have since parted ways.

Justin Trevor Berkeley Portman

In December 1999, Natalia Vodianova flew to Paris. The first months in the French capital were difficult, she had to share a tiny apartment with several more models, learn the language and live on small fees at that time. However, Jean Paul Gaultier and photographer Mario Testino drew attention to her at the modeling competition. From that moment, Natalia Vodianova's takeoff began.

And soon the star at a private party met Justin Portman. True, at first the model took his attention with hostility and rather rudely indicated her unwillingness to communicate with the young lord, who was flirting with the girls all evening.

But Justin was fascinated by Natalia and made more and more attempts to court the girl. Very little time passed, and Natalia Vodianova had already begun to appear with Portman at all social events, and then announced her pregnancy. She was only 19 when their first child, Lucas, was born with Justin. Five years later, in 2006, they became the parents of the charming Neva, and a year later their family became even larger: Natalya gave birth to a son, Victor.

The supermodel's marriage to Justin Portman lasted nine years, but in 2010 there were rumors about their separation, and already in 2011 they divorced. The reasons for the separation of the spouses are different. According to Natalia, they were separated by a different attitude towards children. The husband shifted to her all the responsibilities of raising the heirs and thus seemed to be isolated from the family. At the same time, it was Vodianova who provided the whole family.

Justin Portman had his own perspective on parting with his wife. He decided that the supermodel was ashamed of him, began to drink a lot and even underwent treatment in the clinic. But it was during the course of treatment that Natalya told her husband that she wanted to get a divorce.

Antoine Arnault

Antoine Arnault, heir to the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy fashion empire, first saw Natalia during a photo shoot for an advertising company. He was struck by the atmosphere that the model involuntarily created around him. Already at the first meeting, Antoine was ready to throw the whole world at her feet. But Natalia was married at that time, and he did not dare to make any attempts to get closer.

After Arno and Vodianova crossed paths at events and shows, sometimes they even exchanged a few words. When Antoine found out about the divorce of the model, he first began to write to her, then asked for a date. True, Natalia's busyness prevented them from meeting for a long time.

When they found an opportunity to communicate, they were both very embarrassed. Natalia with a smile recalled how Antoine did not even dare to kiss her, although they were together in his apartment. After the model invited Arno to her house and introduced her to all family members at once: children, grandparents, relatives and even nannies.

Arno began to fly to England, where Natalya was then working, every weekend and soon invited her to move in with him. Together with all the household. They have been together for nine years, became the parents of two sons, Maxim and Roman.

Natalia Vodianova answered all questions about marriage with Antoine Arnault that she already felt like a married woman. She was sure: a stamp in her passport could not improve her already amazing relationship with her beloved. But in the early days of 2020, the model announced the offer that Antoine Arnault made to her. Of course, she accepted him and is now preparing for the wedding. True, even the approximate date of the wedding has not yet been announced.

Once Natalia Vodianova said: she is used to relying only on herself and not wasting time on dreams. Only then can you get what you want from life. Perhaps she did not dream of an official marriage with Antoine Arnault, but she was able to make happy not only him, but herself.

Today Natalia Vodianova is successful, rich and famous, but this was not always the case. She was one of those who, in childhood and adolescence, had to go through very difficult times and turn from an ugly duckling into a swan. That helped modern Cinderellas to temper their character and independently reach those heights that today give them the right to be proud of their successes. Which of the modern screen stars once had to wash the porches and stand behind the counter in the market - further in the review.