Fashion News

KAZAKHSTANI MODEL, RUSLANA KORSHUNOVA, FALLS TO HER DEATH

Just four days shy of her 21st birthday, Kazakhstani model Ruslana Korshunova jumped from the ninth floor of her Manhattan apartment building. The tragic even happened on Saturday afternoon in front of passersby who watched her body hit the pavement.

Before she was even 20 years old, Korshunova appeared on the cover of French Elle and Russian Vogue. She was also highlighted advertising campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Dior, DKNY, Paul Smith and Vera Wang.

While it's being reported as a suicide, many fashion insiders and friends of Ruslana are saying that she was a very happy grounded girl and that it's very unlikely she took her own life. Talk of Russian mob connections and her death have been surfacing. A longtime modeling world insider has been quoted in the Chicago Sun Times as saying: ''This was one of the most balanced, grounded girls I've met in all my years in this crazy business. I just wonder if it was made to look like a suicide. . ."

It has been suggested that Ruslana may have wanted out of the fashion industry but was blocked by mafia who manage Eastern European models. Others say it is possible she was depressed, pointing to her blog posts, one of which said, "I'm so lost. Will I ever find myself?"


In any case, it's sad and tragic, and while I never knew much about her until now, I feel that the women of Kasakhstan have lost a role model. In a country where women are subjugated and often victims of bride-stealing, they have had to say goodbye to one of their own - one who escaped oppression to make a new life for herself.