Irina Shayk (sometimes credited as Irina Sheik, born Irina Shaykhlislamova (Russian: Ирина Шайхлисламова) on January 6, 1986 in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia) is a Russian model known for her 2007 through 2011 appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She is the cover model for the 2011 issue.
Early Years
Irina Shaykhlislamova was born in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia. Her late father Valeri was of Tatar origin and her mother is Russian. Shayk says that she got her unusual looks from her father, and she has said that people often think she is South American. “My father was dark skinned, because he was Tatar. Sometimes Tatars can look Brazilian,” she says. “I get my light eyes from my mother.” Shayk’s mother was a pianist who was the music teacher in a kindergarten, and her father was a coal miner. She has one sibling, an older sister named Tatiana. Shayk started playing piano at age six. At age nine she enrolled in a music school and studied there for seven years, both playing the piano and singing in the choir, as her mother wanted her to study music. Her father died of complications of pneumonia when she was 14, leaving her family with little money and forcing her mother to work two jobs to provide for the family.
After high school, Shayk studied marketing but was bored by it and instead entered a local beauty school with her elder sister. While there she got noticed by a person from a local modeling agency who was struck by her unusual beauty. She was urged to participate in the "Miss Chelyabinsk 2004" beauty contest, and she won. The modeling scout Guia Jikidze (he also discovered Natalia Vodianova, Eugenia Volodina, Polina Kouklina, Elena Melnik, and Olga Sherer among others) noticed her and recommended that she become a model.
Career
Early work
Shayk started her career relatively late for a model, at the age of 19, when she began modeling in Paris. In 2007 she replaced Ana Beatriz Barros as the face of Intimissimi and in the same year debuted in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Since that time, she has appeared in every annual edition, attending photoshoots in such places as St Petersburg, Naples, Grenada and Chile.
After being the image of Intimissimi for three years (six seasons), Shayk was made the official ambassador for the brand in 2010.Her other modeling contracts include Beach Bunny (2009), and Guess spring/summer 2009. Her magazine covers include Annabelle, Bolero, Woman, Jalouse, and Paris Capital.
She signed with modeling agency IMG on May 2009.
2010-present
Shayk modeled the Armani Exchange spring/summer 2010 campaign. She also starred in Kanye West's “Power”, directed by artist Marco Brambilla. Is on the cover of Ocean Drive and GQ South Africa for the August issue. She ranked first in the "50 Hottest Russian Women" list by Complex magazine.
She made a change from swimwear to high fashion with a spread in Spain's Harper’s Bazaar and landed the cover of Elle Spain for their November 2010 issue. Glamour Spain awarded her "Best International Model of 2010".
At the end of the year she was pictured nude in the GQ Spain December issue; however, she claimed that she had not stripped for the photoshoot, and that the magazine had digitally altered the images to remove her lingerie.
On the February 14, 2011 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, it was revealed via billboard that Shayk was the covermodel for the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. This is the fifth time she has been featured in the magazine, but the first time she has been on the cover. She is the first Russian to appear on the cover. Shayk became the face of swim label Luli Fama’s 2011 advertising campaign and look book.
Charity
Shayk is helping a maternity hospital in her hometown of Yemanzhelinsk. She and her sister helped rebuild the children’s ward of the local hospital, and now Shayk raises money on behalf of a Russian charity, Pomogi (Russian: Помоги), which provides care to sick children. Irina is the official ambassador for Pomogi charity in Russia.
Personal life
Shayk has a pet dog named Caesare (named after Julius Caesar), a Lab who, she claims, was fathered by one of the dogs who played the title role in Marley & Me.
Since May/Spring of 2010, she has been dating footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Shayk and Ronaldo allegedly met through their Armani Exchange campaigns.
