In the 1990s, Eva Herzigova was known as the Marilyn Monroe of fashion. Born on March 10, 1973 in Litvínov (Czech Republic), the model, who turns 50 today, stood out in that decade thanks to a bra with which she achieved world fame and a sculptural body that conquered the most famous designers.
As a teenager, Eva had no plans to go into the fashion industry. In fact, she had planned to study Economics in college. But everything changed when she, at the age of 16, was encouraged by a friend of hers to enter a contest organized by the Madison agency in Prague. The young woman herself won the contest and a few months later she moved to Paris, fleeing a then communist Czech Republic.
Her first notable job as a model was to replace Claudia Schiffer in the Guess campaign dedicated to her denim clothing collection. Though she began modeling with long brown hair, Herzigova decided to go blonde, a change that quickly led to her being dubbed the '90s Marilyn Monroe.
But her big break was the campaign she starred in for Wonderbra in 1994. The bra that increased the size and enhanced the breasts without undergoing surgery revolutionized the life of the top, which became the great claim of designers, firms and magazines of the moment. The message "Hello, boys" ("Hello guys") that appeared in the Wonderbra advertising campaign caused a great impact in the United Kingdom. Legend has it that the billboard that showed a very young Eva looking at her breasts caused more than one traffic accident in the area.
The campaign arrived in the United States a few months later. New messages such as "look into my eyes...I said into my eyes" were shown, with Herzigova posing sensually. The bra began to sell every 15 seconds, only in its first year in the country it reached 120 million dollars in sales. In fact, the Council of Fashion Designers of America paid tribute to the Wonderbra for "creating a phenomenon never before experienced in the industry."
Gianni Versace, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Paco Rabanne or Giorgio Armani were some of the designers who signed the Czech top after the success of this campaign. He starred on several magazine covers and walked the most prominent catwalks in the industry.
She was also a Victoria's Secret angel, appearing in several of its spectacular shows that registered million-dollar audiences. Another of his accomplishments was being featured in the Pirelli calendar and Sports Illustrated swimwear issue for three consecutive years.
In 1999, the Czech woman announced her withdrawal from the catwalks. However, in 2008 she resumed her profession posing for Louis Vuitton and Roberto Cavalli and in recent years she has continued to walk for brands such as Thierry Mugler or Schiaparelli. Eva is, along with Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss or Cindy Crawford, one of the few iconic 90's models that is still active today.
In addition to fashion, Eva also had a passion for the world of cinema. Her dream was to be an actress and in the 90s, when she had not yet starred in the Wonderbra campaign, she made her acting debut in the television comedy Inferno, along with other colleagues like Kate Moss or Helena Christensen, the latter one of her best friends.
In 1995 she made her big screen debut with Guardian Angels, alongside Gérard Depardieu, and three years later she was one of the protagonists of the film L'amico del cuore. She has also appeared in Just for the time being (2000), Cha Cha Cha (2013) and Storyteller (2014).
As for her personal life, the top married Tico Torres, drummer for the Bon Jovi group, in 1996. They separated two years later. But the great love of her life is the businessman Gregorio Marsiaj, whom she met in 2002. The couple, who said "yes, I do" in 2017, have three children: George (2007), Philippe (2011) and Edward (2013).
