In her small green Anna Sui baby doll dress, Hana Soukupova has the skin of an angel, a smile full of modesty, a career right in front of her, and her heart on her hand. Exclusive to Yves Saint Laurent in March 2003, with a Gucci campaign for Summer 2004 photographed by Mario Testino, she’s taking over the podiums and pages of Vogue in every language. Absolutely complete in length (height), she is condemned to wearing flats when she walks in town (“I am over two meters in heels! Everyone looks at me, and that puts me ill at ease.”) She reveals herself shy under the flashes of cameras. She is at ease when she is working at her punching bag (which she had installed at her place in Brooklyn) and is at peace on her rollerblades (which she takes out regularly for large loops around Central Park in the morning.) Born in Czech Republic, like Karolina Kurkova and schooled in Karlovy Vary, a small spa town two hours away from Prague, her father watched her grow, and quickly signed her up for a local basketball team. Built for the sport, she excelled, but also needed to express her delicate side. She spent all her free times doing (basketmaking?) and (plastic art? Forgive me, I am not familiar with these terms.) When she was fifteen years old, she signed a contract with an agency in Prague which recruited through small advertisements. She finished school and scored a contract with Viva agency in Paris. Now living in New York, she still remembers her childhood hobbies (habits?

she plays basketball and takes pottery courses in Chelsea. “I go there three times a week. It demands a huge amount of concentration and relaxes me enormously. And after, I’ve created something.” And offers all that she does. She is also (loyal?) to her bigger sister Eva, a painter and illustrator, who wants to come to Manhattan to try at her chances. “She doesn’t have fear to paint.” Waiting until she can buy a large piece of land at home for her family, she works with application and takes advantage of the glamour to create looks both sexy and romantic. (Here it mentions the clothes she likes: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, vintage, etc. etc.) She admits to having stolen her own Polaroids from backstage, and she stores them in a box so she can show them to her children and grand-children.