Vera Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort or Veruschka von Lehndorff is a German model, actress, and artist who was popular during the 1960s.
She was born on 14 May 1939 in Königsberg, East Prussia to Countess Gottliebe von Kalnein: her father was German Count von Lehndorff-Steinort, an army reserve officer executed when she was 5 for attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler in the July 20 plot. After his death the remaining family members were interred in labor camps until the end of World War II: Veruschka later studied art in Hamburg and was discovered by the photographer Ugo Mulas at age 20, after which she became a full-time model.
In 1966 she did her first shoot wearing body paint, and it became a lifelong artistic pursuit. Most of the time she did her own make-up, hair and styling.
She once worked with Salvador Dalí and photographer Peter Beard. At her peak, she earned as much as $10,000 a day. In 1975, however, she departed from the fashion industry due to disagreements with the then newly appointed editor-in-chief of Vogue.
Occasionally Veruschka still appears on catwalks. She was a guest model in the Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2000 in Australia. In October 2010, at the age of 71, she modeled for Giles Deacon’s showing for the fall run of London Fashion Week.
Veruschka provides vocals on several tracks on the 2010 album Mimikry by ANBB, a collaboration of Blixa Bargeld and Alva Noto.
Veruschka von Lehndorff & Yoga
Veruschka von Lehndorff was one of the first models to incorporate yoga into her lifestyle. She quickly began to realise the importance and the benefits of yoga and studied hard until she became proficient in poses.
She used yoga to keep her mind calm as well as maintaining her stunning body, essential for any catwalk model.
Yoga is a healing system of theory and practice. The purpose of yoga is to create strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body.
Scaravelli Inspired Yoga Teacher Catherine Annis
07747 19 69 14
Notting Hill, London, UK
