Carmen Kass
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Carmen Kass was born September 14, 1978, in Tallinn, Estonia and raised in Paide.
A 14-year-old Carmen had already received recognition by the time she was discovered in a supermarket in Tallinn by an Italian modeling scout. She was ready to set her sights higher and go for the Miss Estonia title, but the offer to fly to Milan to jump start a modeling career seemed like a more glamorous and lucrative option.
After being represented in her native Estonia by a small agency called "Baltic Models", Kass moved to Paris at the age of 18. She received exposure on the cover of magazines worldwide, such as L'Officiel and Vogue (France) in 1997, Elle (Australia), Image (UK), Madame Figaro, Numero France, Vogue (France), and Vogue (US) in 1999.
In 1999, Kass strutted down the catwalks for top designers such as Alberta Ferretti, Anna Sui, BCBG, Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Christian Dior, DKNY, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianfranco Ferré, Gianni Versace, Gucci, Jill Stuart, MaxMara, Michael Kors, Moschino, Nicole Miller, Prada, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Vuitton, and Valentino.
Kass has posed in advertisements for Calvin Klein, Chanel, Donna Karan, General Motors, Guy Laroche, Krizia, and Versace. She is also recognized for her appearances in a Gap denim advertising campaign.
Kass is a spokesperson for Sephora, one of the world's leading cosmetics retailers, and the Christian Dior perfume, J'adore. In February 2004, she joined Estonia's ruling Res Publica party and was running for the European Parliament after her homeland joined the European Union in May 2004. She gained about 2000 votes from Estonian electorate and was not elected to the European Parliament. The same year she was elected the President of Estonian National Chess League and she ran a campaign for obtaining the right to organise Olympics of Chess in 2008 in Tallinn, Estonia, which was however given to Bremen, Germany. [1] (http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/28kass.html)