Model: Ksenia Kahnovich

Origin: Ksenia was born in Vladivostok, Russia on the 29th of January 1987

About: In 2004 at the age of 16, Ksenia competed in the first cycle of You Are a Supermodel, the earliest Russian adaptation of America's Next Top Model. She was crowned the winner and shocked the world when she turned down her prize of a contract with NEXT Model Management because she had already received a more lucrative offer from IMG Models.

Start: Kahnovich was scouted in her hometown by IMG.

In Conversation:

How did you get into modelling and at what age?
When I was 16, I got invited to Paris by scouts from IMG. At the time I was in a local agency in Russia only for a few months.

You were a winner on the Russia's version of Next Top Model. How did you feel after winning?

I didn’t really feel or expected anything. I wasn’t really sure if I want to work in this business or what it actually is. In the end I haven’t signed a contract with an agency.


Did your parents agree to let you travel and be in such shady industry?

Of course my parents agreed, I was a minor :). They trusted me and my decisions, but as any loving parents were worried. No one really knew, what this industry is. Mom thought it could be a fun experience.


Did you have any dream job or other plans before getting into modelling?

No, I was quite lost, didn’t understood where to go after high school. I guess, that was one of the things that made me decide to try modeling for a bit.


Do you remember your first modelling job?

Yes, I said to the clients it wasn’t my first job 😂. Everything worked out great, 2 days at some designer department shop in Paris. Somehow posing for that shoot came naturally. Everyone was nice.


Do you have any favourite designers that you worked with?

Of course I admired John Galliano, always felt special to be part of his creation. Vera Wang had some nice words, which you appreciate a lot in this industry. I loved working with Carolina Herrera’s team. Paul&Joe great girly fun shows during Paris fashion week. There were so many great moments with different designer teams, it is hard to point out now.


What was the scariest experience for you as a model?

I guess in the beginning a lot of things are new and could be a bit scary. I was very young, travelled to very different places without people I knew. But my English was quite good, so I managed. As a model at first doing big shows could be scary but exciting as well. As a traveler things happened, someone broke a window in my car and try to rob me while I was in it (during Paris Fashion Week). I am sure a lot of models have similar stories.


Is there a model you looked up to?

When I started I didn’t really know much about models, just some names that everyone knew. There were some whose beauty I admired of course, but no one I looked up to.


Special thanks to @sl4vicd0lls
Find more about Ksenia on her instagram @kseniakhnovich

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