She was born in Teplice, Czechoslovakia, and was discovered by the Madison Modeling Agency's Dominique Caffin. She had plans to attend college but after winning a modelling contest she moved to Paris to sign with Madison Modeling Agency. She moved to New York and from there her career took off. She has appeared on the covers of GQ, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and ELLE. She has been modelling for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for years and appeared on the cover three times, in 1995, 2000 and 2006. In addition to working with photographers on her Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the subject of Joanne Gair's inaugural body painting works as part of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.