Irina Kulikova

The various fashion weeks have the power to make and unmake models' careers. If London and Paris are the high points that confirm the infatuation with a certain girl, New York is a very good indication of which one it will be. This year, it is the young Russian Irina Kulikova, the discovery of last season, who is sending off sparks.

Barely 17 and already numerous shows under her belt, Kulikova is the phenomenon of the moment. It was in 2006 in Moscow, her native city, that the young girl's life took an unexpected turn. She was dining with her mother when Ivan Bart from IMG and Liv Tyler, who happened to be in the same restaurant, spotted her and asked her if she was a model. The answer was "No," but it did not take long for Bart to change that.

Teen Vogue fell under the spell of her angelic face and slender silhouette. She had barely signed with IMG when she found herself booked for several magazine fashion editorials. Several weeks later, she showed exclusively for Calvin Klein during the New York fashion week fall/winter 2007/2008.

The small world of fashion discovered a young model -- a mix of little girl, ingénue, and young woman -- and was won over by her angelic, adolescent face and unending legs. Prada, who normally saves their opening position for a girl working exclusively for them, made an exception and offered Kulikova the highly coveted slot, projecting her into the ranks of the "it" girls.

She showed for Chanel, inaugurated Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci's first collection, and closed for Louis Vuitton and YSL. After the shows were over, magazines like Vogue and V placed her among the top ten girls of the moment. A few months earlier, she had not yet set foot outside of her native Russia, yet she now found herself posing next to professional models like Sasha Pivovarova for the fall/winter 2007/2008 Prada campaign and in front of Steven Meisel's lens for Pringle of Scotland.

The recent New York shows confirmed Kulikova's rising star status. The very young and beautiful new top model opened for prestigious shows, e.g., Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan, and appeared in over 20 others. The next several weeks should see more of the same...