Natalia Semanova

[Barry]

Well, this may sound extremely unlikely (and probably is) but I met somebody online who claimed to be Natalia...I'm trying to work out if this is the case, or if it is some strange imposter!!!

She says she quit modelling after returning to Paris (City Models I think it was) and went back home to her family in Moscow because she was homesick and didn't want to settle down in the US. Also she said she is now working for a Russian airline, which means she still gets to travel around Europe for her job...Hmmm...I spoke to this girl on the phone too...But there are some odd people out there...so it could have been an intruder...I'd like to find out, that's for sure!!!

 

[fashionkitten7]

Yep...

Btw, does anybody know any recent info about her? Last ones I know, she had become mrs. Bentolila and moved from Paris to NYC (differently from many other models, though, the latter doesn't seem to have helped her career...quite the opposite, as a matter of fact...as she practically disappeared soon after... )

I posted a link to a backstage interview video with her a few pages back, which seemed to be recent to me... I don't know what she's talking about in it, though, the Spanish translation is put over her English speech...

 

[fashionkitten7]

Well, this may sound extremely unlikely (and probably is) but I met somebody online who claimed to be Natalia...I'm trying to work out if this is the case, or if it is some strange imposter!!!

She says she quit modelling after returning to Paris (City Models I think it was) and went back home to her family in Moscow because she was homesick and didn't want to settle down in the US. Also she said she is now working for a Russian airline, which means she still gets to travel around Europe for her job...Hmmm...I spoke to this girl on the phone too...But there are some odd people out there...so it could have been an intruder...I'd like to find out, that's for sure!!!

Doesn't sound likely to me... first, she is married to French guy, a booker from her agency and the last I heard was that they lived in Paris. Also I heard that she was planning to stay in touch with the fashion industry after she stops modeling.

And you may want to check out that video I mentioned in my above post. You can hear her voice in it so that you know whether the girl you spoke on the phone to was or wasn't Natalia (the letter is more likely, though, I think )

 

[Pashen'ka]

I posted a link to a backstage interview video with her a few pages back, which seemed to be recent to me... I don't know what she's talking about in it, though, the Spanish translation is put over her English speech...

Yep, I know that vid!
I searched my HD, found the file and checked its properties: I downloaded it in june '03, so it ain't a very recent one unfortunately...
My pc is w/o audio now (time to change this old wreck ), but I had watched that vid, like, a zillion times and I still remember that she said (more or less) that she's very shy and thus didn't feel so confortable at first with transparent clothes - like "do I really have to wear THAT?" - but then understood that's just fashion; iirc she also said that she liked a lot spanish shows, because they were much more relaxed than NYC or Milan - all shows being held in the same place, models didn't have to run from one side of the town to the other, and also felt more protected; and always iirc at the end she said that she didn't really know what would she be w/o fashion, but for sure she wasn't going into politics, as she's never being interested in that at all.

 

[Pashen'ka]

Well, this may sound extremely unlikely (and probably is) but I met somebody online who claimed to be Natalia...I'm trying to work out if this is the case, or if it is some strange imposter!!!

She says she quit modelling after returning to Paris (City Models I think it was) and went back home to her family in Moscow because she was homesick and didn't want to settle down in the US. Also she said she is now working for a Russian airline, which means she still gets to travel around Europe for her job...Hmmm...I spoke to this girl on the phone too...But there are some odd people out there...so it could have been an intruder...I'd like to find out, that's for sure!!!

Well, the lack of any detail about her husband could be a bit strange (also, I must confess it's quite hard for me to imagine her employed at Aeroflot or Pulkovo... ).
But then again, hey, one never knows, right? Maybe it WAS her! (In that case, next time you hear her, tell her she still has devoted fans all over the world - a big-and-old-time one in Como, Italy - and tell her also to visit here, we'll all appreciate! ).

 

[fashionkitten7]

Yep, I know that vid!
I searched my HD, found the file and checked its properties: I downloaded it in june '03, so it ain't a very recent one unfortunately...
My pc is w/o audio now (time to change this old wreck ), but I had watched that vid, like, a zillion times and I still remember that she said (more or less) that she's very shy and thus didn't feel so confortable at first with transparent clothes - like "do I really have to wear THAT?" - but then understood that's just fashion; iirc she also said that she liked a lot spanish shows, because they were much more relaxed than NYC or Milan - all shows being held in the same place, models didn't have to run from one side of the town to the other, and also felt more protected; and always iirc at the end she said that she didn't really know what would she be w/o fashion, but for sure she wasn't going into politics, as she's never being interested in that at all.

Oh, thanks I always knew she's a very sweet girl !

 

[Barry]

Yes, you are right, I think it is very unlikely that it was her...It is simply that at the time we spoke, I didn't even know who Natalia was...

Now I am aware that she was VERY big in the industry, so it looks increasingly likely that this was a strange interloper pretending to be her!!!

There are some nutty people out there...I don't understand why people would pretend to be somebody else...Anything for a bit of attention!

Anyway, maybe I should phone her again and ask her where her husband is!! She certainly was something though, wherever the 'real' Natalia is...

 

[Pashen'ka]

Oh, thanks I always knew she's a very sweet girl !

Yep, I think the same!
Here's an old interview of her I saved many years ago from bwg boards:

NATALIA SEMANOVA
At 15 Natasha became the symbol of Russian beauty - she was the first
Russian girl to win one of the most prestigious and desirable contests for
young model: the Look of the Year organized by Elite Agency.
Her road to the glittering world of international fashion started through
Slava Zaitsev's modeling school. She spent there a year, which gave her a
taste of catwalk and some useful experience.

"The local tour of the Look of the Year in Moscow was set on a boat. We were asked to improvise a dance. Then they called us all together and named the first, the second and the third. I was very sad: 'Well, all the best places have gone - there is nothing for me here. What am I doing here, anyway?' And, at that very moment, they said: 'Now, the names of the winners who will go to the Spain.' And they named Polina Tasheva, Tanya Nikiforova and me!
Everything was so strange in Spain - I did not speak English, I had never
been anywhere before and did not know what to do with myself.
It was much later, when I won the first place and went to New York that I
learned many useful things.
The beginning was just awful - I was all-alone in huge New York. I felt a small child lost in a wide world. Every day I called home to talk to Mum. I wept and Mum did her best to console me: 'you have to stand up - otherwise there was no point of your going there.'
In Milan I took part in my first shows, one of them was by Christian Lacroix. It was like a showroom with five sessions for people who came and go, sitting at the tables, sipping champagne and looking at fashion collections. I felt just bored so did a bit of waltzing on stiletto heels. Well, at eleven, with still one walk in front of me I was dogtired. The dress was so voluminous I could hardly move. To make a sad story short, I tripped on the dress and collapsed on the floor.
There was a frightened 'Ah!' from the public. 'Here goes my future,' I thought. Well, I tried to laugh to cover embarassment. They helped me to rise, the couturier himself came up and kissed my hand. When I later came to Paris they told me: 'In a week you are to appear at Lacroix - there's no need to do casting.'"

 

[fashionkitten7]

^ That contest took place in Ibiza in 1994, I believe... Thanks for posting

Barry, I don't really think she was ever really big in the industry... She was never really known outside of Paris. As to that girl you spoke to... Well, I think that if I was any model or something I wouldn't reveal my true identity to someone in the Internet. What's the point ? Besides, it even could be unsafe. That's what makes me think that girl wasn't her. Also, Natalia seems to be a very private person and shy. I think she would never act like that...

 

[j´adore dior]

i´m so happy to have found a thread about natalia!!, i searched for one some time ago and didn´t find it and today i was thinking about making one but did a last search and got it!, well as other fans from her do i miss her a lot, she was catwalk perfection like eugenia volodina is too and i always think or hope to see her back, i think that she shout do couture shows once in a while now that she´s retired and although she wasn´t very famous ^ she was known outside Paris, she worked with all major designers in Milan, New York and London as well and i think her carrer started to end when in 2001 she wasn´t allowed to work in france because of a misunderstood on payment feeds or something thant weren´t clear at elite and there for they refused her a work visa and couldn´t walk even though very important designers such as valentino brote letters to france´s gobernment to try to make it up for her........she have done a lot of editorial work and advertising, i once saw a picture from valentino Haute couture, Atelier versace fall 98, she was the face on rococo perfume by joop as well as ysl´s opium wich featured a tv comercial that i have (in case someone´s interested pm me) and was featured on the cover of vogue several times, im definetly starting to post Natalia material here, by the way, last year i saw her on a neiman marcus online catalog, not very glamourous but she´s still working a bit

the last show she has done uptoday, Dior ready to wear spring-summer 2004 on october 2003.

backstage, photos style.com

 

[j´adore dior]

-an editorial from elle.
-Natalia when she was 8 years old.
-Valentino Haute Couture fall-winter 1998.
-Dior ad campaign fall-winter1998 (if soemone has more pictures from this campaign please post them or send a link ).
-With Ester Cañadas backstage at Gaultier Paris fall-winter 1998.

 

[j´adore dior]

covers featuring natalia

 

[j´adore dior]

-Valentino Haute Couture spring-summer 99 advertising.
-photos from vogue Italy´s couture issue for summer 2000.

 

[j´adore dior]

-More from that Couture spread from Vogue Italy.
-another couture editorial from vogue france 1998.

 

[j´adore dior]

an editorial featuring the Versace fall-winter 2000/01 rtw collection.

 

[j´adore dior]

in different backstages.

 

[j´adore dior]

-Haute Couture and Ready to Wear.

 

[j´adore dior]

-at John Galliano f/w 98-99.
-at Gaultier Paris s/s 99.
-Rococo by Joop perfume advertising.
-Divinora by Guerlain advertising.
-at HC Givenchy by Alexander Mcqueen f/w 98-99.

 

[Pashen'ka]

^ Nice to see there are other big fans of her, j'adore dior!

 

[Pashen'ka]

Btw, it's true that she never made it big in the US, but she WAS famous in Europe, and her resume is quite impressive imho:


Campaigns:
Atelier Versace, Biotherm, Blumarine, Bruno Magli, Christian Dior, Claude Montana, Daniel Swarovski, Enrico Coveri, Exté, Gigli, Giorgio Armani, Guerlain, Joop! 'Rococo' fragrance, Lanvin, L'Oréal, Mango, Moschino, Neiman Marcus, Plein Sud, Renault Twingo, Romeo Gigli, Saks Fifth Avenue, Stefanel, Synonyme, Toni Gard, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent 'Opium' fragrance

Covers:
France: 'Marie Claire' - April 1995; 'Elle' - May 18, 1998; 'Marie Claire' - December 1998; 'Vogue' - September 1998; 'Jalouse' - May 1999
Germany: 'Elle' - December 1997
Italy: 'D' - May 18th & October the 8th, 1999;
Russia: 'Vogue' - May & September 1999
Spain: 'Vogue' - 1995; 'Elle' - March 1996; 'Elle' - May 1999; 'Vogue' - September 2000

Fashion shows:
Ready to wear - Autumn/Winter 1997 {Claude Montana, Comme des Garçons, Givenchy, Hervé Leger, Jacques Fath, Lanvin, Lolita Lempicka, Yohji Yamamoto}
Haute couture - Autumn/Winter 1997 {Christian Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 1998 {Ann Demeulemeester, Alberta Ferretti, Anna Molinari, Badgley Mischka, Blumarine, Byblos, Comme des Garçons, Christian Dior, Carolina Herrera, Claude Montana, Cerruti 1881, Dice Kayek, Emporio Armani, Giorgio Armani, Guy Laroche, Genny, Hervé Leger, Hermès, John Bartlett, Jil Sander, Jill Stuart, Jean Paul Gaultier, Kenzo, Lolita Lempicka, Michael Kors, MaxMara, Moschino, Philosophy, Richard Tyler, Ter et Bantine, Yohji Yamamoto}
Haute couture - Spring/Summer 1998 {Christian Dior, Chanel, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 2000 {Alberta Ferretti, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Ann Demeulemeester, Anna Molinari, BCBG Max Azria, Blumarine, Callaghan, Calvin Klein, Celine, Chloe, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Cynthia Rowley, DKNY, Eric Bergere, Gianfranco Ferre, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Bartlett, John Galliano, Lanvin, Lawrence Steele, Loewe, Marcel Marongiu, Marni, Michael Kors, NYC 2000, Nina Ricci, Oscar de la Renta, Paco Rabanne, Ralph Lauren, Sonia Rykiel, Valentino, Versace, Versus, Victor Alfaro, YSL Rive Gauche, Yohji Yamamoto}
Haute couture - Spring/Summer 2000 {Balmain, Chanel, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent}
Ready to wear - Fall/Winter 2000 {Alberta Ferretti, BCBG Max Azria, Blumarine, Byblos, Christian Dior, Donna Karan, Gai Mattiolo, Genny, Gianfranco Ferre, Guy Laroche, Hussein Chalayan, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Bartlett, John Galliano, Kitty Boots, Krizia, Luca Luca, Michael Kors, Moschino, Moschino Cheap and Chic, Olivier Theyskens, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Richard Tyler, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sonia Rykiel, Valentino, Versace, Versus, Vivienne Tam, Yohji Yamamoto}
Haute couture - Fall/Winter 2000 {Balmain, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 2001 {Alberta Ferretti, Blumarine, Gai Mattiolo, Gianfranco Ferre, Maska, Massimo Rebecchi, Moschino, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace}
Ready to wear - Fall/Winter 2001 {Alberta Ferretti, Andrew Gn, BCBG Max Azria, Bill Blass, Blumarine, Carmen Marc Valvo, Chado Ralph Rucci, Christian Dior, Diane von Furstenberg, Gai Mattiolo, Gianfranco Ferre, Guy Laroche, Halston, Isabel Marant, Jerome Dreyfuss, John Galliano, Krizia, Marcel Marongiu, Moschino Cheap and Chic, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Rebecca Taylor, Richard Tyler, Rocco Barocco, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sonia Rykiel, Versace}
Haute couture - Fall/Winter 2001 {Balmain, Christian Dior, Philip Treacy, Valentino, Versace}
Haute couture - Spring/Summer 2002 {Balmain, Christian Lacroix, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent}
Ready to wear - Fall/Winter 2002 {Bill Blass, Blumarine, Carmen Marc Valvo, Catherine Malandrino, Christian Dior, Gianfranco Ferre, Giorgio Armani, John Galliano, Krizia, Oscar de la Renta, Versace, Versus, Yigal Azrouel}
Haute couture - Fall/Winter 2002 {Balmain, Chado, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, Versace}
Haute couture - Fall/Winter 2003 {Chado, Christian Dior, Elie Saab, Valentino}
Ready to wear - Spring/Summer 2004 {Aigner, Ann Demeulemeester, Christian Dior, Clips, Gianfranco Ferre, John Richmond}
Ready to wear - Fall/Winter 2004 {Aigner}

Notes:
Natalia won the Elite Model Look contest in 1994.
She's been the first famous model in Russia, where russian Vogue defined her "russian triumph" on their May '99 cover.
She married her french booker, David Bentolila, and her wedding dress was made by Jean Paul Gaultier


(infos mostly from fashionmodeldirectory.com)