New name: Model Olya Zapivokhina, who had surgery on the brain
Text: Irina Dubina
February 21 media spread news - Gucci show closed the Russian model Olya Zapivokhina. This name didn’t tell much to many - Olya had just started a modeling career, and almost by chance: her friend, Number Management agency booker Ilya Vershinin, took several test shots and sent Moscow photographers with a proposal to conduct model tests for Olya. These shots and saw the casting agent Gucci, and then offered the girl exclusive participation in the show at home (this means that during the season she should not work with other brands). "Since the proposal came unexpectedly and it was necessary to respond urgently, I immediately agreed. I just put the parents before the fact - they were happy, only worried about their health."
Olya Zapivokhina
Olya is an exception to the rule by all parameters. First, she is twenty-two years old — a rather impressive age by the standards of the industry to begin a modeling career. However, today the limits of restrictions are becoming more fluid, which proves the success abroad of other Russian models - Dashi Kozak or Sveta Alaska. Secondly, Olya’s growth is only 165 centimeters - for the podium modeling, the case is almost unprecedented at all: as the girl herself says, “I’m not in Europe for growth.” But all this, of course, is absolutely unimportant, because Zapivokhina has the most important thing that is valued in the industry today - a unique type, even if it does not correspond to the imaginary canons of beauty, charisma and amazing dedication.
There is one more circumstance. The very test shots that ultimately led to a contract with Gucci were taken just a few months after Olya had a brain surgery. The procedure forced her to shave her hair well (in old photos Olya has long brown hair), but it turned out that the new image became her calling card. Now Zapivokhina tells about the illness calmly, and considers the date of the operation the second birthday. The image of a fragile girl with sad eyes is deceptive - it is immediately apparent live, how much vital energy and inner fuse is in Ole. She has big plans for the future, and the success in modeling is not a one-time story: "As long as there are job offers, it's silly to refuse them."
What she calls what happens is a “big adventure.” However, in the modeling business, her achievements do not end: in 2012, Olya launched her own brand, which produces covers for books and covers for laptops, and even made a small collection of clothes last spring.
Cover: Number Model Management