SUPERMODEL 31 ( PART 5) - CARMEN KASS
Carmen's first Vogue cover - French Vogue
WE'RE BACK WITH THIS MONTHS SUPERMODEL 31 AND TODAY I'M FEATURING MODEL NO 5 ( IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) ESTONIAN BORN CARMEN KASS.
WHAT IS SUPERMODEL 31? IT IS A LIST FEATURING ONLY 31 SUPERMODELS WHO HAVE APPEARED ON ALL OF THE TOP 4 VOGUE COVERS, U.S, FRENCH, BRITISH AND ITALIAN VOGUE.
Carmen was born in Tallin, 14 September 1978 ( now age 37) and grew up in Mäo village, near Paide, the capital of Jarva County, Estonia. She speaks fluent Estonian, Russian and English.
At 14-years old, Carmen was discovered in a supermarket by a model scout from Milan. Her first dip into modelling wasn't successful, and she left Milan pretty soon after.
When she was 18 she decided to try her luck in Paris and suddenly bagged her first Vogue cover with French Vogue in Nov 1997 shot by Michael Thomson.
She'd began to appear in other Vogues too
By 1999, she had walked the catwalk for top designers such as Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Givenchy, and was the muse of Michael Kors and the face of his brand for 10 consecutive years. She also starred in the now iconic campaigns for Christian Dior perfume 'J'adore' and Narciso Rodriguez 'For Her L'Absolu Fragrance'' of which she has been the spokesperson of Narciso for 15 consecutive years to date.
In 2000 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards awarded her the "Vogue Model of the Year"
In 2007, she became the model and spokesperson for Max Factor.
Carmen is a keen and experienced Chess player was elected president of the Estonian National Chess League for 8 consecutive years. She ran a campaign for Tallinn to host the 2008 Chess Olympics, 2008 but Dreden, Germany was chosen.
In 2004 she also turned her hand to politics by joining Estonia's ruling Res Republic Party. She ran for the European Parliament for Estonia after the country joined the European Union in May 2004. She won 2315 votes from the Estonian electorate, but was not elected to the European Parliament
Ive worked with Carmen on quite a few occasions and she's really good fun and a great model too, very professional.
I went on one memorable trip with her with Photographer Corinne Day when we went to Jamaica for French Vogue and we shot a picture in a real Marijuana field. Corinne really wanted to do this picture and the producer said it would be very dangerous for us to go there but she organised it with some local guys and after a long walk through a forest we landed in this huge marijuana field and took photographs. I imagine its the first and the last time a Vogue crew have managed to get into this kind of field in Jamaica. Amazingly dangerous and exciting and a trip I will never forget.
“Jamaique Safari”. Carmen Kass by Corinne Day for Vogue Paris, June/July 2001 Hair by Me
AND SO TO CARMENS ALL IMPORTANT VOGUE COVERS AND EDITORIAL.
MORE OF CARMEN'S VOGUE COVERS