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Nadja Auermann (born March 19, 1971)
is a German model and actress. Fashion designer Valentino once commented
on her physical resemblance to Marlene Dietrich. A fashion columnist wrote
of her ice maiden visage and pole vaulter's legs.
Auermann arrived in Paris in 1990, unsuccessfully signing with Karins
Modeling Agency in the same year. In 1991, she signed with Elite Model
Management. Auermann landed modeling gigs, but it wasn't until she
bleached her hair platinum blonde for a prêt-à-porter collection that her
career took off. Everyone from Harper's Bazaar to Vogue came crawling, as
both magazines featured portfolios on the "it" girl in modeling. By 1994,
Nadja (now donning a cropped haircut) was the model for runways and
magazine photo spreads. This was made clear with a 26-page Neiman Marcus
shoot in Harper's Bazaar and consecutive Vogue photo shoots in 1994. With
her image on the covers of the two thick fall fashion magazines, Auermann
achieved a triumph equal to winning two legs of the Triple Crown of
Thoroughbred Racing. She had her picture taken for French Vogue, in
addition to appearing in Benetton clothing advertisements. Her September
1994 Harper's Bazaar cover prompted one critic to comment negatively about
her excessive makeup. She said Auermann looks like Grizabella the Glamour
Cat about to break into Memory.
Auermann has modeled for Versace, and she appeared in their classic ad
photo in miniskirts along with Kristen McMenamy, Christy Turlington,
Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, and Stephanie Seymour. The ad was shot
by Richard Avedon. In the following years, she was photographed by Ellen
von Unwerth and appeared in and on the covers of numerous magazines. In
1997, she had her first child with Olaf Björn, a daughter called Cosima.
Two years later, she married German actor Wolfram Grandezka. The couple
welcomed their first son, Nicolas, the same year and divorced a few years
later.
The blue-eyed blonde believes one has to work to be beautiful. She has
regular manicures, takes vitamins to strengthen her nails, and eats
dessert only once a week. She said, My job is to be skinny.
In recent years, Auermann launched her own perfume ("Nadja Auermann") and
has begun acting, having been in two German-language films: Letztes
Kapitel (2005) and Dornröschens Leiser Tod (2004). She is known throughout
the world for her record-breaking long legs, which are 112cm (44") long.
Auermann enjoys vacationing in the spa town of Heiligendamm, on Germany's
Baltic coast. |
