The Havířov-born top model wanted to explore the world when she was little. Her dream came true when she travelled to Paris at the age of 16. After a few years, she was appearing on one cover of a fashion magazine after another. At the age of 37, she almost gave up on her personal life, but then she met Karel Vágner and everything changed. Krainová looks great at the threshold of 50!
Simona Krainová was born February on 19, 1973 in Havířov. Her father used to tell her stories about the beauty of the world ever since she was little. These stories fuelled her desire to travel the world and not settle in one place.
Moreover, she wasn't the best student at school, as she found studying boring and the school system made no sense to her. Despite all of that, her father, a telecommunication engineer, enrolled her at the High School of Telecommunication. Simona herself has admitted that it was pure hell. Fortunately, later on her parents agreed to her changing the field and travelling abroad.
Krainová recalls. It was in 1989 when Krainová left for France at the age of mere 16. And that's where it all began for her. As is often the case, the beginnings of her stellar career were tough. For the first time in her teenage years she had to rely on herself and stand on her own two feet in a foreign country.
Eva Herzigová, her modelling colleague who'd worked in Paris before, helped her a lot in her beginnings - they even shared an apartment for a while. However, Herzigová received a modelling offer from the USA and left France a few months later.
Krainová has succeeded in the French capital and became a sought-after model in less than 5 years. She was the cover girl of the most prestigious fashion magazines thanks to her stunning beauty. In line of that she started to be noticed by fashion designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Max Mara, for whom she walked runway shows. Naturally, there was a negative side to it as well. She was so busy travelling for work that she barely managed to unpack dirty laundry from her suitcase sometimes.
"There were times when I was coming back after weeks of travelling, carrying a suitcase full of dirty clothes, and when I finally landed in Paris, my phone rang and my agent was telling me not to leave the airport because I was going to Vietnam straight away,"
It's no secret that models don't have a shortage of men! Simona Krainová is no exception, as she's dated a lot. She once complained that men were interested in models mostly for one-night-stands, not for life.
At the start of her career she began dating French businessman Alex Bougault, they were together for six long years, and even planned a wedding. Sadly, their relationship didn't work out in the end.
Simona found herself in a dark place after the breakup. There was her relationship with hockey player Jiří Hudler to begin with, who got caught surrounded by prostitutes in a night club.
The first time Krainová wore a wedding dress was at her wedding with musician Bořek Slezáček. Unfortunately, the marriage was over before it even began. The couple divorced after only two years together, and they had a lot of harsh words to say about each other in the media.
Krainová just wasn't very lucky with men, as she always liked the "gangster" type. But then she met Karel Vágner in New York and everything has changed since then.
"I kept telling myself that this was it for me. I was 37, and I wasn't necessarily feeling hysterical, but I felt depressed from time to time, thinking that I would never find the right guy and I wouldn't have any children. And right after I nearly gave up and had no expectations whatsoever, I met Karel,"
said Krainová. Their meeting must have been fated, because Simona became pregnant less than 3 months later. They've been married for almost 10 years and have two sons together, Max and Bruno.
In addition to her catwalk shows, Simona has also appeared in a few movies. Her film premiere was "Kamarád do deště II." from 1992, followed by the three-part "Byl jednou jeden polda" (1995). In 2005, she was cast the main role in "Vybíjená" and "Dvojníci".
Simona Krainová looks great at the threshold of 50 and her modelling career is nowhere near its end. We wish her a lovely 48th birthday!