Ruslana Korshunova

Chanel

Bummer: Sean Avery Couldn't Attend Couture After All

»After three days of packing for couture, Sean Avery learned he had to stay put in New York because of contract negotiations with the Rangers [Style File] »Subliminal message?

»After three days of packing for couture, Sean Avery learned he had to stay put in New York because of contract negotiations with the Rangers [Style File]

»Subliminal message? Agyness Deyn has "food" written on her shoe [Jezebel]

»Hussein Chalayan is producing his first shoe range for Fall 2009 [Vogue UK]

»Videos of Fall 2008 Armani Prive and Chanel Couture [Telegraph UK, Telegraph UK]

»IMG Models has a tribute to Ruslana Korshunova on their homepage [Chic Report]

»Alber Elbaz held a launch party for his Lanvin denim line with Acne Jeans last night [FabSugar, FWD]

»This year's Glastonbury fashion, with Lily Cole and more [Style.com]

»A look at Azzaro Resort 2009 [WWD]

RIP

Model Ruslana Korshunova Dies In Fall From NYC High-Rise

UPDATE: The medical examiner's office has ruled the death a suicide.
Model Ruslana Korshunova Dies In Fall From NYC High-Rise

UPDATE: The medical examiner's office has ruled the death a suicide.

>> Sad news for the modeling industry today: 20-year-old Ruslana Korshunova fell to her death in an apparent suicide around 2:30 pm Saturday.

Although the fall is still under investigation, the Kazakhstani model known as IMG's "Russian Rapunzel" for her long flowing hair apparently jumped from her ninth-floor apartment in Manhattan's Financial District.  Officials said there were no signs of a struggle in the apartment, where Ruslana had been living for only two months, and the balcony from which she fell had construction netting around it which appeared to have been deliberately ripped.

Ruslana was first discovered in November 2003 by Models 1 booker Debbie Jones, who saw her in an in-flight magazine article about her hometown in Kazakhstan, Almaty: "She looked like something out of a fairytale! We had to find her and we searched high and low until we did! She's really incredible with feline features and timeless beauty."

Since then, Ruslana appeared on the covers of Russian Vogue and French Elle, in ads for Marc by Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, DKNY, and Christian Dior, and walked in numerous runways for the likes of Marchesa, Libertine, Y-3, Alberta Ferretti and Marc by Marc Jacobs.

A making of video of Ruslana's Nina by Nina Ricci fragrance television ad below.

Three months ago, Ruslana posted online: "I'm so lost. Will I ever find myself?" but Saturday, a friend said that she had just returned from a job in Paris and seemed to be "on top of the world."  Her ex-boyfriend had just dropped her off at her apartment at 5 am that morning, after they watched the movie Ghost. And her best friend, Kira Titeneva avowed: "There's no way she would have killed herself. She loved life so much."  Rest in peace, Ruslana.

A gallery of some of her work below.

*image: source, source, source