I raised my sister. I was six when she was born. My mother had to make a living for herself and it was very hard, so I was looking after my sister, cooking and cleaning, and she had four jobs.

- Natalia Vodianova

When you become a mother, you think less about yourself and care more about the world.

- Natalia Vodianova

My appearance gave me access to a particular kind of world and I'm really grateful for it.

- Natalia Vodianova

I missed quite a lot of school because I was working from the age of 11.

- Natalia Vodianova

I have made enough money to secure my family and that is all I care about.

- Natalia Vodianova

I don't mind being called 'Supernova.' If one nickname is going to stick, that's not a bad one!

- Natalia Vodianova

Before I left Russia in 1999, I was living in a very poor factory town with my family and friends, and nothing was ever going to change.

- Natalia Vodianova

As a child I really didn't like men at all, in fact.

- Natalia Vodianova

When I remember my life in Russia it is in totally dark colours.

- Natalia Vodianova

We all have our own purpose in life and I feel very strongly that I have a bigger purpose than giving to just my immediate family and friends.

- Natalia Vodianova

It's better to be skinny than to be fat.

- Natalia Vodianova

I was born in Nizhny Novgorod to a very poor family and unfortunately my father and mother separated when I was very little.

- Natalia Vodianova

I think protecting your family and giving to them is so important. It's the most important achievement.

- Natalia Vodianova

I know what it's like not to have food in the fridge or money to buy more.

- Natalia Vodianova

The people that live in my hometown do not walk along the street with smiles on their faces. It is a desperate place, but I got out.

- Natalia Vodianova

I love Yves Saint Laurent and Giambattista Valli and Givenchy, and I get given quite a lot, but perhaps nothing is as wonderful as the white fake leather trench coat I got when I was 15.

- Natalia Vodianova

I live a very different life now, with incredible privileges, but looking back I realise that growing up in Russia gave me tools that other people don't necessarily have - such as the will to push that bit further, to make things happen, to succeed.

- Natalia Vodianova

I completely admire my mother for raising a child with cerebral palsy at home.

- Natalia Vodianova

I believe in reincarnation of the soul.

- Natalia Vodianova

Finding out I was pretty was a very nice realisation.

- Natalia Vodianova