Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia, the daughter of an accountant mother and an electrician father. She began her modeling career after winning a modeling beauty contest in Prague in 1989, at the age of sixteen. She was a member of Thomas Zeumer's Metropolitan Models. After arriving in Paris, her popularity increased. Her first important appearance was as the model for the first Wonderbra campaign. In 1994, advertising executive Trevor Beattie, working for TBWA/London, developed an ad for Sara Lee's "Hello Boys" Wonderbra campaign. It featured a close-up image of Herzigová wearing a black Wonderbra. The ad used only two words: "Hello boys." The influential poster was featured in an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and it was voted in at number 10 in a "Poster of the Century" contest. The Canada-based lingerie fashion label wanted the ad campaign to motivate women to see the Wonderbra "as a cosmetic and as a beauty enhancer rather than a functional garment". The billboard was voted in 2011 as the most iconic outdoor ad during the past five decades by the Outdoor Media Centre. She was also featured in Guess? jeans campaigns, the Victoria's Secret catalog and Sports Illustrated. Herzigová has featured in a variety of international fashion magazines, gracing the covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar as well as Elle, Marie Claire, Numéro and Allure. She has also walked for designers including Louis Vuitton, Benedetta Dubini, Giles Deacon, Emilio Pucci and Versace. Amongst her most recent projects, Herzigová also starred in a fashion art film by Imagine Fashion, called Decadent Control with Roberto Cavalli. It featured fashions by Agent Provocateur and H&M. Herzigová posed for the August 2004 edition of Playboy. In 2006, she portrayed Venus at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. In 2016, Herzigová featured in campaigns for Giorgio Armani and Dior Beauty.
Personal life
Herzigová married Tico Torres, the drummer from Bon Jovi, in September 1996. The couple divorced in June 1998. Herzigová has three sons with Gregorio Marsiaj: George, Philipe and Edward. La Senza refused to pay her for a catalog photo shoot for a breach of contract because the company did not approve of her recently shortened haircut.
