Early life

Kass was born in Tallinn and grew up in Mäo village, near Paide, Järva County. Kass, her elder sister Victoria and elder brother Kutty were raised only by their mother, Koidu Põder.

Her father, Viktor Kass, is a chess teacher in Põlva.

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, Paris, UK, Italia Vogue, Australian Elle, UK Image, Madame Figaro, and French Numéro. Kass' first Vogue cover was French Vogue in November 1997.

Her career was launched by Anna Wintour and by 1999, Kass was walking the runway for diverse top designers such as Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and Dolce & Gabbana, and posing in advertisements for designers and brands like Calvin Klein, Chanel, Gucci, Donna Karan, Dsquared2, Versace, Givenchy, Fendi, Max Mara, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Narciso Rodriguez and even General Motors. She also appeared in a Gap denim advertising campaign and was a spokesperson for Revlon cosmetics, Sephora, and the Christian Dior perfume, J'adore. In 2007 alone, Kass booked ten campaigns with notable designers for spring/summer collections. From 2007 onwards, she became the model and spokesperson for Max Factor.

Kass was the muse of Michael Kors, and the face of the brand for 10 consecutive years. Kass has been also the spokesperson of Narciso Rodriguez For Her Fragrance and its various limited editions for 15 consecutive years to date.

Kass was awarded by Vogue as "Model of the Year" at the 2000 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. Kass 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).

She opened and closed the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 1999, and also walked for the brand in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2008.

Film

While a model in New York, she attended the Lee Strasberg Institute. 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). She also had a cameo appearance in the film Zoolander, where she played herself.

Politics

In February 2004, she joined Estonia's ruling Res Publica Party. Kass ran for the European Parliament after her homeland joined the European Union in May 2004. She won 2315 votes from the Estonian electorate, but was not elected to the European Parliament.

Chess

Kass is a keen chess player. She was elected president of the Estonian National Chess League for 8 consecutive years. She ran a campaign for Tallinn to host the 2008 Chess Olympics; however, Dresden, Germany was chosen instead.

Business

Kass is one of the wealthiest people in Estonia.

She is part owner of her mother agency, Baltic Models.

In Estonia, Kass owns some private companies, including two real estate companies.

Personal life

From 1998 to 2004, Kass dated New York's restaurant owner Richie Akiva.

Since early 2005, she has been in the relationship with Eric Lobron, a German chess grandmaster.

Kass speaks fluent Estonian, Russian and English.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]