Until May of this year, the Finnish city of Espoo was famous for being the birthplace of Formula 1 driver, Kimi Raikkonen, and for being the Nokia headquarters. But since then, it's added a new claim to fame: it's the hometown of Kirsi Pyrhonen, the most sought-after model in the world.
And it's all thanks to her appearance on the cover of Vogue Italia, shot by Steven Meisel and shared with her colleague Daria Strokous. For the almost 17 year-old Kirsi, it was the confirmation of her arrival, the real launching pad for her career. She had already appeared in Vogue Italia last July (in a fashion editorial shot by Paolo Roversi) and an ad camparing for Balcenciaga, and she's got several important jobs coming up - like an appearance in the September issue of an important magazine, photographed again by Steven Meisel, as well as a shoot for W magazine, where she'll be captured by Mert&Marcus.
"Posing for the cover of Vogue changed my life," confessed the young model, whose career began four years ago when a talent scout spotted her at Ikea, where she was shopping with her mother. Elina Simonen, the first photographer to work with her, knew immediately that this fresh-faced beauty would go far. "I was struck by her calmness and serenity in front of the lens," she says. "Kirsi has a natural, pure and essential beauty."
Despite her amazing and rapid success, Kirsi keeps her feet firmly planted on the ground, continuing to define herself as "a high-school student who every so often takes a plane to be a model." However, Kirsi's life seems to heading more and more in the direction of the runway, and less towards University. Her work commitments and requests for her keep flooding in from around the world, keeping her far from her native Finland.
For now, the new star of the fashion system has two obejectives: to concentrate on the Fashion Weeks in New York, Milan and Paris and to start dedicating herself once again to her studies. Her last report card, apparently, left a lot to be desired. As we mentioned, she's a girl with her feet on the ground.