Kris Grikaite The New Natalia Vodianova

As Kris Grikaite turns 18, the Russian model talks to Vogue exclusively about her Prada debut, the industry’s diversity issues, and those undeniable similarities to Natalia Vodianova, alongside a series of personal portraits shot by Ashton Do.

Kris Grikaite hadn’t even considered modelling two years ago. When a photographer friend visited Moscow’s Avant agency for work, the Omsk-born teenager went along for the ride. She was signed immediately. Prada casting director and Vogue contributing casting director Ashley Brokaw came calling, Grikaite was booked as a spring/summer 2017 show exclusive, and was promptly catapulted to catwalk fame, as editors around the globe started Googling the name of the model who bore a striking resemblance to Natalia Vodianova.

“I didn’t understand what a big deal it was,” Grikaite said of her Prada debut at the age of 16. “To be honest, I remember very little from my first show because I just wanted to do a good job.” She graduated to the opening slot of the autumn/winter 2018 and spring/summer 2018 Prada shows, remained equally nervous, but, she says, “by the end of them, the audience looked happy, and I was happy too.” The corresponding Prada campaigns shot by Willy Vanderperre were among the first in her book.

Now 18, with a campaign and catwalk portfolio including Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Valentino and Céline, Grikaite says she still feels like a newcomer. “Travelling, working with photographers, meeting interesting people, and discovering creatives” spurred her to move from Omsk to New York to join the fashion treadmill full time, but she’s taking her career in her stride, working hard to bolster her language skills. “I do struggle, but I study every day and I see a lot of improvement,” she says positively.

Other models have been “friendly and helpful”, but she’d like “to see more diversity among models, for both men, women and the LGBTQ+ community”, and she has a low tolerance level for “dishonesty and impoliteness”. “Unfortunately, there are some people like that in the world… We are still not where we should be.”

Indeed, Grikaite seems old before her years, preferring to spend time with her agents, or her friends who are older and on the career ladder back in Russia. She doesn’t put too much weight on social media, preferring to read or listen to music than click refresh on her near 100,000 follower count. “I like to showcase my latest work on Instagram, and to show a little bit of my everyday life,” she says. “But at the same time, I try not to attach too much importance to it.”

It’s hard not to feel drawn to this polite young woman, who reiterates how grateful she is that people like Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, who included Grikaite in his autumn/winter 2017 newcomers list on Models.com, believe in her. “She’s often referred to as ‘baby Natalia’, and you can’t deny the similarity between them,” Vogue fashion bookings director, Rosie Vogel, comments. “Arresting, intriguing, hard but soft at the same time. She feels incredibly modern and everyone is very drawn to her.” If the similarities between Grikaite and Vodianova stem beyond looks to become a driving force for social change, the industry is lucky to have her.