Beautiful Russian Doll, Natalia Vodianova

Natalia Vodianova was born in Gorky, Russia in 1982. The model, actress and philanthropist who now permanently resides in the United Kingdom lived a poor childhood and helped her family sell fruit at the fair to survive the harsh of the Soviet economy at the time.

At the age of 15, Vodianova enrolled in a modelling academy, was told she would need to learn English to succeed, and mastered the language in three months. By the age of 17, Vodianova had moved to Paris, signed with Viva Models and conquered the international runways.

She modeled in advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, L'Oréal, David Yurman, Marc Jacobs, Pepe Jeans, Diane von Fürstenberg and Chanel. 

As an actress, Vodianova appears in Roman Coppola's 2001 film CQ. In September 2008, she appears in director Alexander Kott's 2009 film Probka. And in Spring 2009, she entered into a three-year agreement to be a brand ambassador for the French lingerie company Etam and will design a lingerie collection each season during the term of the agreement. The collections will be marketed under the brand Natalia pour Etam.

She married in 2001 to British Justin Portman and is now a mom of three, Lucas (8),  Neva (3) and Vicktor (2). As a philanthropis she is a founder and the president of the Naked Heart Foundation, an organisation that strives to provide a safe and inspiring environment in which to play for every child living in urban Russia where is hardly any suitable playgrounds.

Walk around Moscow with Natalia and learn about the culture, the pace and Matryoshkas Russian dolls... 

Enjoy the Russian inspired Christmas 2009 window's displays of Chanel at LePrintemps in Paris. Browse more Christmas displays at wmagazine.com/w/blogs and flickr.com