Irina Shayk

Irina's full name is Irina Shaykhlislamova and she is from deep inside Russia, raised in the town of Emanzhelinsk which is located at the eastern slope of the South Urals. It was founded in 1770 as a Cossack village and Irina's surname is also Cossack. While the Cossack men were fierce warriors, the Cossack girls had a reputation for being bold, independent, and extremely beautiful.

By the time Irina Shayk hit puberty (she was born January 6, 1986) Russia embraced capitalism and opened up to the west, which gave many opportunities to Russian and Ukrainian girls like Olga Kurylenko. Irina had the looks and the figure to get into modeling, being famous then as now for her perfect teeth and beautiful green eyes.

Irina Shayk was discovered in 2004 at age 17 by Guia Djikidze, founder of Grace Models agency. Guia Djikidze, who also discovered the famous Russian model Natalia Vodianova and Anne V (who features in SI 2008), found Irina while on a three-day train journey from Chelyabinsk to Moscow. Chelyabinsk is the capital of the region and in that same year Irina Shayhlislamova won the Supermodel 2004 competition for the Chelyabinsk region, earning 60,000 Ruble, a modeling contract with Exclusive agency, and a chance to compete for the Ford Supermodel Russia title.

However that year Ukrainian Natalia Gotsiy won the title; she is also a well-known model in Europe right now. Irina Shaikhlislamova got work in Russia for the Modus Vivendis agency but later enrolled with agencies based in mainland Europe like Elite, One Models, etc. Because of her great body and Mediterranean looks, Irina began getting modeling contracts in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain, before the prestigious SI swimsuit shoot made her a household name. She still does modeling jobs in her native Russia.

rina says she admires Russian boxer Nikolai Valuev. She is also a fan of football and supports Guus Hiddink, the former Dutch footballer who coaches the Russian national side, because he led the Russian team to its biggest success since Soviet times – the semi-finals of Euro 2008. Irina Shayk says she loves to eat cakes and hides a lot of sweets and cookies in her kitchen cabinet.....obviously in tiny portions because none of those calories show on her body!

At a young age Sheik wanted to be an actress; but as yet she has only appeared in a promotion for the Ryan Leslie single Diamond Girl. Irina has a pet cat and loves both cats and dogs; she would love to open an asylum for strays. Shayk says that she loves tomatoes....while an Italian magazine claims that Irina enjoys drinking champagne, eating caviar, and hanging out in Capri pants!