Supermodel Natalia Vodianova covers Vogue Beauty Paper, January 2023, a media project of Vogue China. Natalia is styled by Michelle Cameron, with creative direction by Matt Mcdonald. Photographer Hugo Comte [IG] is in the studio./ Hair by Yuji Okuda; makeup by Aurore Gibrien

Natalia Vodianova’s Stratospheric Rise

Vodianova speaks to Vogue China about sisterhood and a growing sense of personal security. After a long relationship, Natalia Vodianova and Antoine Arnault married in September, 2020.

They first met on the set of a Louis Vuitton campaign in 2008, although Vodianova has no memory of the event — one that hit Arnault like a lightening bolt.

Presumably the mother of five children does remember that her husband was named CEO of Christian Dior SE and vice chairman of the board of directors in early December 2022.

The family holding company owns the majority of the Arnaults’ stake in luxury titan LVMH. There is no doubt that Natalia Vodianova is on her way to becoming one of the world’s most prominent women in the next decade. Good for her.

Natalia Vodianova’s stratospheric rise has been breathtaking, as she increasingly turns her attention to her work as a philanthropist, impact investor and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador.

Natalia Vodianova Takes On Menstruation Taboos

In her role with the UN, Vodianova is taking on the work of changing attitudes around menstruation, a normal body function of women — although Googling now I note that one group of transgender women agree they do not menstruate, but another group of transgender men say they do and yet another group says they have all the symptoms of periods even though they no longer bleed, and that is good enough to say that all trans people have periods — blood or no blood. Got it — sort of.

What we do know for certain is that in Nepal and India, large numbers of women do not have the right to touch food or crops while they are menstruating, because they can cause bad luck to their families. A 2019 study found that 77% of west-central Nepali girls and young women actively practice menstrual exile, even though it is now illegal in India.

Girls in Bolivia are still told that their period blood causes illnesses like cancer in other people.

It’s inspiring that Natalia Vodianova is willing to take on this specific challenge affecting millions and perhaps over a billion women and girls worldwide on this taboo topic.

AOC covered Vodianova’s first event ‘Let’s Talk’ in 2021, where she was joined by Anja Rubik and Adwoa Aboah — all three activists and AOC makes four — very committed to LGBTQIA+ rights but not willing to eliminate the word ‘woman’ and ‘women’ in 2023.

Natalia Vodianova As Angel Investor

Vodianova has been an angel investor in the period tracker Flo since its inception and it runs on AWS [Amazon Web Services]. There’s huge discussion of privacy information security on the Flo website, but no specific focus on red states in America wanting to gain access to women’s period tracking information.

The supermodel is also a major invester in the Elbi app, to support charities. Elbi has morphed into Locals, according to a recent London Times post. Currently available only in London and Los Angeles, the app remains a platform where charities are represented but now with a real-life social side. Vodianova says people are craving connection right now.

First, you ask to join, writes the Times. Once accepted, the algorithm fills your feed with events that it thinks you’ll like, from a pancake party in Primrose Hill to gardening with Camilla Al Fayed at her biodynamic farm or a booze-free night out with DJ Fat Tony.

Each event asks for a donation of a minimum £5, which goes to the host’s chosen charity. More than 20,000 monthly active users have already signed up, raising £200,000.

Note that there is a Locals.com, filled with guys promoting their creativity and teams. Vodianova’s app is Locals.org. ~ Anne