Outside of modeling, Kass ran for the
European Parliament in 2004 and was the president of the Estonian Chess Federation from 2004 to 2011.
Early life
Kass was born in
Tallinn,
Estonia and grew up in the village of
Mäo, near
Paide,
Järva County. Kass, her elder sister Victoria and elder brother Kutty were raised by their mother, Koidu Põder.[4] Her father, Viktor Kass, was a chess teacher in
Põlva.[5]
Career
Modeling
When Kass was 14 years old, she was discovered in a supermarket by a model scout from Milan. Her first venture into the modeling world was unsuccessful, and Kass left Milan after a short time.
Kass then moved to Paris at the age of eighteen. She soon received exposure by appearing on the covers of American, French, British, and Italian Vogue, Australian Elle, UK Image, Madame Figaro, and French Numéro.[6] Kass's first Vogue cover was French Vogue in November 1997.
Kass was the muse of
Michael Kors, and the face of the brand for 10 consecutive years.[11][12] Kass has been also the spokesperson of the
Narciso Rodriguez For Her perfume and several of its editions for 17 consecutive years to date.[13][14]
Kass was named "Model of the Year" at the 2000
VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards.[15] In the year 2002, she was estimated to have been the second-highest-paid model in the world.[16] She is well-known for her distinctive runway walk in the fashion industry. Despite her height, her feet are relatively small (about an American size seven).[17]
While living in New York, she attended the
Lee Strasberg Institute.[20] In 2004, Kass played the female lead in the
Estonian murder-mystery film Täna öösel me ei maga ("We Won't Sleep Tonight"; titled "Set Point" in the international release).[21] She also had a cameo appearance in the film Zoolander, where she played herself opening the Derelicte fashion show.
Kass is a keen chess player.[25] She was elected president of the Estonian Chess Federation for 8 consecutive years and currently serves as a councillor.[26] She ran a campaign for Tallinn to host the
2008 Chess Olympics; however,
Dresden, Germany was chosen instead.[27]
Business
She was a part owner of her mother agency, Baltic Models.[28]
Personal life
From 2004 until 2014, Kass was in a relationship with
Eric Lobron, a German chess grandmaster.[29][30][31]
Her nephew, Antonio Sebastian Kass, is also a model[32] and a musician.[33]
^"Carmen Kass". nymag. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2016.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link)
^Ulfsak-Šeripova, Maria (3 April 2008).
"Ma ei ole üldse nii kuulus!". Anne&Stiil (in Estonian). Archived from
the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
^Kilumets, Margit (3 June 2004).
"Kui vana on Kassi hing?" [How old is the soul of Kass?] (in Estonian). Eesti Naine. Archived from
the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2010.