Helena Houdová

Helena Houdová
Born (1979-12-27) December 27, 1979
Pilsen, Czech Republic
Website http://www.sunflowerchildren.org

Modeling information

Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Hair color Blond
Eye color Blue
Manager IMG Models New York
Viva Models Paris

Helena Houdová (born December 27, 1979) is a model and humanitarian [1] who has covered or appeared in countless fashion magazines including Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Vogue. According to FHM, "Houdová is one of the 'Top 100 Most Beautiful Women' in the world - and is one of the most successful models in the competitive fashion model industry."[2] She is known for donating almost all of her earnings to charities for orphans and disadvantaged children. She is President and Founder of a charity devoted to these causes called Sunflower Children which she started in 2000 after being crowned Miss Czech Republic. Her pronounced hoh-daw-vah:.

Biography

Houdová was born and raised in Plzeň, Czech Republic.[3] She has been working in orphanages since the age of 15 and learned sign language in order to communicate with handicapped orphans in Plzeň. She adopted 4 young girls on a part-time basis and her family tends to them in Plzeň. While besieged by modelling agencies hoping to sign her as a teenager, her father refused to let her model until she completed her university degree. She majored in Anthropology. After completing her studies, she moved abroad to pursue work through a Parisian agency. Houdová later relocated to New York City.

Modeling career

Houdová won the Miss Czech Republic competition in 1999, and she went on to compete at Miss World 1999 where she did not place. She later established a place in fashion's elite by modeling on the New York, Milano, London and Paris runway circuit.[4] Houdová's popularity in the fashion industry skyrocketed when she appeared on the cover the May 2005 edition of Elle, which dedicated the entire issue to her.[4]

Houdová has been seen on the covers of Italian, Japanese, American, French and Spanish Elle, V, Flair, i-D and Time's Style & Design. Houdová has been featured in ad campaigns including those for Gap, Yves Saint-Laurent,[5] Victoria's Secret, Emanuel Ungaro, Tommy Hilfiger,[5] Revlon,[5] Dolce & Gabbana, Escada and Louis Vuitton.

In 2005, Houdová was named a Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.[6] She also appeared in a group montage on a rare (as of recent years) group montage of up and coming supermodels.

In 2008, Houdová was featured on four covers including the Elle Italia and Czech Elle Motherhood Issue and was dubbed the "Czech Princess Diana" in recognition of her humanitarian work and her immense popularity in the Czech Republic and Central Europe. In 2009 Houdová and her newborn son, alongside Pavlína Pořízková and Miloš Forman, appeared in a highly medialised Louis Vuitton-campaign photographed by Lucie Robinson for the benefit of her Sunflower Children charity foundation.[7]

Personal life

Aside from being a mother, a model, a humanitarian and a goodwill ambassador, Houdová' spends most of her free time running Sunflower Children operations in 15 countries supporting 11,000 disdavantaged children. Sunflower Children's mission is to work in different cultures to "move people from indifference to compassion," she says.[8] She has been vegetarian since the age of 15 and continues to look after her 4 part-time adopted girls.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/opinion/helena-houdova-sunflower-children-charity
  2. ↑ Forbes Top Fifteen Models. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
  3. ↑ Wiltz, Teresa. "The Swan." Essence magazine (September 2004).
  4. 1 2 Liya Kebede Photos on Style.com
  5. 1 2 3 Sterling, Wayne. "Model Citizen." Savoy Magazine, page 31.
  6. ↑ Holgate, Mark. "Role Model". US Vogue (May 2005).
  7. ↑ "ŽENA-IN.cz – České celebrity pro Vuitton – Magazín". Zena-in.cz. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  8. ↑ Liya Kebede Celebrity-Parent Profile - Cookiemag.com

External links

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