Pain in My Heart - Inna Zobova

By Rollo Tomasi

Lithe, statuesque, with delicious 33-24-35 good looks and eyes that would knock out most guys, Russian supermodel Inna Zobova was born in October of 1976 into the humble family of an engineer mother and civil aviation specialist father.

Her home town of Khimki is situated just 10 miles northwest of the center of Moscow on the way to Sheremetyevo airport with St. Petersburg beyond. There, Inna would often pass a giant tank trap in Khimki, a monument to the closest advance of Nazi forces to Moscow in December 1941.

At the tender age of six years old, she found herself recovering from cardiac surgery to repair a hole in her heart she had been born with. After her birth, her family moved to Siberia where life was not a bed of roses. Her father was chronically ill and her mother had to work long hours just to make ends meet. This made it difficult for Inna to have a stable upbringing but forged in her a will and vision to succeed.

Recovery from the successful surgery left Inna unable to play sports or study ballet, the core aspiration and prized chosen profession of every little Russian girl and their parents.
However undaunted and buoyed by an intense fondness for animals, Inna pursued her studies by moving back to Moscow to attend prestigious Moscow State University. It was at this time that the willowy 5’8 undergrad began a local modeling career initially to earn extra money. But for everyone involved it was soon obvious Inna was in a class of her own..

Following a whirlwind track of domestic modeling gigs and beauty pageant wins, Inna was soon crowned Miss Russia in 1994 at the ripe old age of 18. That same year she finished second in the Best National Costume portion of the Miss Universe pageant.

Shooting star and much in demand by international advertising clients, Inna went to Paris in 1996 and signed a lucrative modeling contract with Viva Model Agency.

With Viva and their mentorship program Inna was placed as a premiere model for internationally acclaimed fashion photographer Mario Testino for Yves Saint Laurent, Hermes, Givenchy, Valentino, Armani and Dior. Also, she was soon seen in such prominent magazines as Vogue, Allure, Marie Claire, Elle, and Glamour.
In August 2002, Inna was chosen from over 600 models to become the new face (or bust) for Wonderbra.

Her enigmatic character and Post Soviet allure convinced Playtex executives to hire her in a long term association following the company’s success with such notable talent as Adriana Karembeu and Eva Herzigova.

Actress
Zobova was cast in 2004 to play the part of femme fatale Alexandre Bogdanova in the French-British co-production Double Zero, a slap happy international comedy spy adventure. This was followed the same year with her performance as Tatiana alongside Rupert Everett and Spanish actor Rossy de Palma in People. She also plays herself in her own episodes of the acclaimed French television comedy-documentary series On a Tout Essayes.

Inna is currently based in Paris and enjoys the good life traveling all over the world on modeling assignments and making guys like us happy at the sight of her…