Modeling Following her
Vogue cover, Kurková became recognized at
haute couture fashion shows. Additionally, the lingerie brand
Victoria's Secret chose her to be a part of 2000's fashion show webcast, though she was only 16 at the time. Prominent fashion houses such as
Yves Saint Laurent signed Kurková to contracts, while print campaigns for
Chanel,
Tommy Hilfiger,
Max Mara,
Bottega Veneta,
Donna Karan,
Celine,
Fendi,
Elie Saab,
rag & bone,
Jean Paul Gaultier,
Roberto Cavalli,
Valentino,
Louis Vuitton,
John Galliano,
Mango,
Christian Dior,
Hugo Boss,
Versace,
H&M, and others helped expose her even more. In the 2002
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, she wore the "Star of Victoria"
Fantasy Bra. Other runway credits of hers include
Alberta Ferretti,
Alexander McQueen,
Balenciaga,
Calvin Klein,
Carolina Herrera,
Chanel,
Christian Dior,
Dolce & Gabbana,
Givenchy,
Gucci,
Karl Lagerfeld,
Louis Vuitton,
Marc Jacobs,
Prada,
Ralph Lauren,
Stella McCartney,
Versace, and
Vera Wang. However, it didn't hinder her career and she was named "Model of the Year" at the 2002
VH1/
Vogue Fashion Awards, in part for her work ethic, having worked 23 weeks straight. Photographed by
Steven Meisel, she was presented on the September 2004 cover of American
Vogue as one of the "Models of the Moment". Kurková has appeared on over 51
Vogue magazine covers internationally, including the French, Italian, UK, German, Russian, Greek, and Korean editions, and has also appeared in international editions of
Elle,
Vanity Fair, and
The Face. She has worked with noted fashion photographers like
Steven Klein,
Mario Sorrenti, and
Mario Testino. During the
Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2004 Couture show, she was wearing a corseted princess gown that was so vast and outrageously ornate that she got stuck in the fabric and had to be manhandled off the catwalk. After being contracted as a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2005, she was featured in the 2006 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, showcasing the $6.5 million "Hearts On Fire" Fantasy Bra decked with almost 2,000 diamonds weighing with a centerpiece diamond brooch weighing . During this same Victoria's Secret show, she opened the
"Come Fly With Me" segment, dressed as a fantasized sexy air hostess. Due to a design flaw, her right shoe flapped opened and slipped off her foot half way down the catwalk, causing Kurková to continue walking with only one shoe on as nothing had happened. The video got more than 600,000 views, and the incident was soon considered a "legendary moment". As an Angel, she received a star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame" prior to the 2007 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, appeared on the February 2008 cover of
Esquire, re-creating the classic 1966
Angie Dickinson cover for the magazine's 75th anniversary, and was chosen as part of
People magazine's 100 most beautiful people in the world. In December 2007, she was featured in print ads for
Dell. Kurková has a smooth indentation in place of a
navel due to surgery she had as an infant, and photographs are often altered by the addition of an image of a belly button to hide this. In November 2008,
E! Entertainment Television voted her the world's sexiest woman, beating
Angelina Jolie,
Scarlett Johansson, and fellow Angels
Gisele Bündchen,
Heidi Klum and
Adriana Lima. Kurková modeled for
Bottega Veneta spring 2011 campaign in a classic
Hitchcock style. On 24 January 2011, Kurková was one of the most talked-about models of the grand show organized by the French lingerie brand in the style of the Victoria's Secret shows. She notably opened the show in an underskirt holding a real living lamb. Later on in the show, she returned to the catwalk wearing a billowing black kimono complete with a five-meter train. When she was entering the catwalk, the garment's train slipped off the catwalk and got stuck under it, forcing Kurková to remove her whole cloak, to the audience's applause. The incident was widely reported in the media, to the point that the brand Etam published a video of it on their official YouTube channel. In September 2018, Kurková became the first cover model of
Vogue Czechoslovakia. The first released cover featured her from behind with a back tattoo that has a strong symbolic meaning to the history of the two countries in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of former
Czechoslovakia.
Acting Kurková made her film debut alongside
Frankie Muniz,
Harvey Keitel, and
Amber Valletta in Howard Himelstein's 2007
coming-of-age dramedy,
My Sexiest Year. She played
Courtney A. Kreiger / Cover Girl in the live action 2009
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra film. She was a guest judge on the
fifteenth season of ''
America's Next Top Model and fourth season of Germany's Next Top Model''. She appeared on the 2008
Academy of Country Music Awards along with
Dwight Yoakam in presenting the "Top Female Vocalist" award to
Carrie Underwood. In September 2010, Kurková guest-starred on
NBC's
Chuck season 4 episode, "
Chuck Versus the Suitcase". She played "Sofia Stepanova", an enemy spy posing as a supermodel. Kurková appeared alongside German model
Eva Padberg on the reality television show
Das perfekte Model, a model casting-show similar to ''
Germany's Next Top Model. The show aired in spring 2012 on German television broadcast VOX. The show was canceled in summer 2012 due to low ratings. Kurková made a guest appearance on television series 30 Rock'' in Season 6, Episode 9 titled "
Leap Day" in February 2012. Kurková appeared as herself in an episode of
Person of Interest, in a subplot where the character of Detective Fusco (
Kevin Chapman) protects Kurková from Armenian gangsters. The subplot, which is interspersed throughout the episode, takes up less than two minutes of screen time and is played for comic relief. Kurková was also a supermodel coach on OXYGEN'S "The Face", alongside
Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum and
Coco Rocha.
Other ventures According to ABC News, she cooperates with pediatricians and healthcare providers to found Gryph and IvyRose, a herbal care product line for children. ==Personal life==