Edita Vilkeviciute: from Kaunas to Chanel and the Forbes list

When Lithuanians talk about a model who reached the very top of fashion, one name comes up first: Edita Vilkeviciute. Over twenty years she has worked with Chanel, Dior, Versace, Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli, been photographed by Mario Testino and Mario Sorrenti, appeared on Vogue covers in several countries and, in 2015, joined the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid models.

The old jurgita.lt address editavilkeviciute.jurgita.lt was her news page for years, and 15min.lt, man.lt and Lithuanian Wikipedia still link to it. We have rebuilt it as a full profile in Lithuanian and English: how she got into fashion, which jobs mattered most, what she earned, her height and measurements, and what young models can take from her story.

Edita Vilkeviciute at a glance

Growing up near Kaunas

Edita grew up in a modest family in the Kaunas district of Lithuania: her father worked at a university, her mother Regina looked after the home and two daughters. She has called her childhood "simple and perfect", with forests, nature and her mother's flower garden. At school she played basketball, rode horses, went to music school and played the piano, guitar, drums and accordion.

Her mother remembers a responsible child who disliked lies and stood up for classmates who were bullied. Edita says she learned to fight for what is right from her father and kindness and simplicity from her mother and grandmother. That plain, friendly manner later became her calling card in fashion.

How Edita was discovered in Palanga

It started on a family holiday at the seaside. In Palanga, Lithuania's main beach resort, girls were handing out flyers for a casting run by a model agency from Vilnius. Edita went along, and the agency picked her and one other girl. They wanted her to start straight away, but her father said no: she was still at school, and the family could not travel to Vilnius regularly. Her parents found an agency in Kaunas instead, close to her music school.

Things moved fast. At the end of August the family was in Palanga; on 8 September she flew to Barcelona for three months, together with a girl named Berta who had worked there before. The two became best friends. Her biggest fear in Barcelona, she says, was not the work but high heels, which she had never worn before.

Those months were hard for her parents. A newspaper had just run a long story about agencies sending girls abroad for anything but modelling. Her father flew to Barcelona, visited the agency and the model apartment, and came home reassured. The lesson still stands: a family should know exactly where a young model is going and who is responsible for her.

The breakthrough: Milan, Paris and the first covers

Her first big step was a contract with Women Management in Milan at 17, followed soon after by Viva Models in Paris. She made her runway debut at the Just Cavalli spring/summer 2006 show in Milan, and the following month Vogue Paris ran her first editorial, shot by Katja Rahlwes.

Her first covers came in 2007: Vogue Russia and Marie Claire Italy. In spring 2008 she walked for Chanel, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu and Dries van Noten in Paris, and Mario Testino photographed her for Dolce & Gabbana's spring campaign. That year she also succeeded Angela Lindvall as the face of Versace fragrances and replaced Hilary Rhoda in Etro's campaign.

In the spring/summer 2009 season she walked more than 35 shows, including Chloé, Chanel, Stella McCartney, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Dolce & Gabbana, and opened Valentino in Paris. Only a small share of models reach that level; we explain how runway models are chosen in runway model and the technique in how to walk like a model.

Coco Chanel in Karl Lagerfeld's film

At the end of 2008 Karl Lagerfeld made a ten-minute black-and-white silent film about the young Gabrielle Chanel in 1913, when she was still a milliner. It was shown at Chanel's Paris–Moscou Métiers d'Art presentation, and Lagerfeld gave the lead role to Edita. In the words of The New York Times, the Lithuanian model Edita Vilkeviciute is Chanel in Lagerfeld's film.

Edita counts it among her favourite jobs: "When they told me Lagerfeld wanted me to play Coco Chanel, I did not believe it. Me, from Lithuania, playing her?" She still works with the house: in 2024 and 2025 she was the face of the Chanel Le Lift beauty campaigns.

Victoria's Secret and the Pirelli Calendar

Edita walked in three Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows in a row: 2008 (in the PINK segment), 2009 and 2010, when she wore Angel wings for the first time. In those years the show was the biggest television platform a model could get in the United States.

In 2012 she was cast in the Pirelli Calendar shot by Mario Sorrenti, one of the most prestigious invitations in fashion, since only a dozen or so models are chosen each year. That same year she became the face of Calvin Klein's Eternity Aqua for Her fragrance. For more on the brand's history with models, see Calvin Klein models.

Fragrance campaigns and the Forbes list

A model's biggest earnings usually come from fragrance and beauty contracts rather than the runway, and Edita's career shows it clearly:

Fragrance is what put Edita on the Forbes list in September 2015. She tied at No. 17 with estimated annual earnings of about US$3.5 million. Forbes noted that apart from Kendall Jenner she was the only newcomer and named the reasons: fragrance contracts with Roberto Cavalli and Viktor & Rolf, plus Calvin Klein and H&M advertising. The full ranking and how it compares with today is in the highest-paid models.

Edita herself is discreet about money: "I don't tell anyone how much I earn. Some 'experts' work it out from my jobs." How model pay is built, and what a show, an editorial or a campaign pays, is explained in how much models make.

Edita in numbers

On models.com, the industry's largest database, Edita is listed among the "Industry Icons" and "Money" models. Her recorded work looks like this:

Her covers include Vogue Paris (October 2013), Vogue Spain, Germany, Greece and Australia, Numéro, ELLE France (2013) and the very first issue of ELLE Lithuania (2024). Her first Lithuanian magazine cover was for Moteris, shot together with her mother Regina.

Edita Vilkeviciute's height, measurements and age

How tall is Edita Vilkeviciute? 175 cm, or 5 ft 9 in, according to models.com and Wikidata. That is a typical height for a fashion model; agencies usually ask women for 172–⁠181 cm. See types of modeling for what each kind of work requires.

How old is Edita Vilkeviciute? Sources differ. Wikipedia and Wikidata give 1 January 1989, but an interview in Moteris, in which her mother also took part, gives 3 August 1988 in the Kaunas district. By the Moteris date she is 38 in autumn 2026; by Wikipedia's, 37.

Hair and eyes. Her natural hair colour is brown and her eyes are blue-green. Her hair was often lightened for campaigns, which is why many people remember her as a blonde. Searches for "young Edita Vilkeviciute" usually lead to those early blonde campaign images from 2007–⁠2009.

Private life

In July 2017 Edita married Björn Frederic Gerling, a German who also works in the modelling business, in Tuscany, Italy. They met through a mutual friend. Her wedding dress was designed by Tamuna Ingorokva and the photographs were taken by her friend Mario Testino. She rarely talks about her family and says she values privacy, so we do not repeat unconfirmed details.

She goes back to Lithuania often: she spends the holidays with her family, helps her mother in the garden and calls her father the king of barbecue. In interviews she repeats that fashion has grown tired of difficult stars, and that being simple and friendly opened many doors for her.

What young models can learn from Edita

• The casting is only the start. She was spotted in Palanga, but professionalism built the career: "I tried to work professionally, I stayed out of scandals and didn't put on airs."
• Read the contract. Edita says her biggest disappointment was a Lithuanian agency: she could only leave it through the courts and never recovered part of her earnings. Talk to your family or a lawyer before signing; the key clauses are in our modeling contract guide.
• Your agency's decisions shape your career. She recalls an early agent turning down a Calvin Klein jeans campaign with Steven Meisel without asking her. Her New York agency later sorted it out, and Calvin Klein became one of her most important clients.
• Have your materials ready. A first shoot with her Kaunas agency was enough to send her abroad within weeks. Today a good composite card and clean digitals do the same job.
• Keep a plan B. Her father encouraged her to go to university. Work made her put her studies on hold, but she says: "If I stop modelling tomorrow, other work and another chapter are waiting."

Frequently asked questions

Who is Edita Vilkeviciute?

Edita Vilkeviciute is a Lithuanian model from Kaunas who has worked internationally since 2005. She has walked more than 200 shows, fronted campaigns for Chanel, Versace, Calvin Klein, Bulgari and Roberto Cavalli, and was on the Forbes list of the highest-paid models in 2015.

How tall is Edita Vilkeviciute?

175 cm (5 ft 9 in). Her measurements according to models.com are bust 81 cm, waist 58 cm and hips 86 cm, with a US 8 shoe.

How old is Edita Vilkeviciute?

Wikipedia gives her date of birth as 1 January 1989, while an interview in the Lithuanian magazine Moteris gives 3 August 1988. By the second date she is 38 in 2026.

Was Edita Vilkeviciute a Victoria's Secret Angel?

She walked in three Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows (2008, 2009 and 2010) and wore Angel wings for the first time in 2010, but she never held an Angel contract with the brand.

Who is Edita Vilkeviciute's husband?

She married Björn Frederic Gerling, who is German, in July 2017. The wedding took place in Tuscany, Italy.

How much does Edita Vilkeviciute earn?

The only public figure is Forbes' 2015 estimate of about US$3.5 million a year, mostly from fragrance contracts. There are no reliable later figures, and she does not disclose her income.