A Field Guide To Malgosia Bela

March 18, 2014
LUX-ALPTRAUM

The other day we happened to pop into our local magazine shop to pick up the latest newspaper, and who should we see staring out at us from atop a pile of nudie mags? None other than Malgosia Bela, the frequently nude Polish model and February cover girl for Lui Magazine. As we stood there ogling her gorgeous form, something dawned on us: despite our professions of adoration for the lovely lady, we don't really know much about Ms. Bela. Luckily, the internet is chock full of resources that have helped remedy our ignorance.

So, let's begin at the beginning: Małgosia Bela, or Małgorzata Bela, was born on 6 June 1977 in Krakow, Poland. Unlike many of her peers, who enter the modeling mines at the tender ages of fourteen and fifteen, Bela's modeling career didn't begin until the comparatively old age of twenty-two--after she'd graduated college with a double major in literary theory and musical composition, we should note. After getting rejected by numerous Polish agencies who were turned off by her androgynous aesthetic, Bela finally found success in the US, debuting on the runways of Marc Jacobs, Commes des Garçons, Givenchy, and Balenciaga during the Spring/Summer 1999 season, securing a couple of international Vogue covers, and getting a gig as the face of Jil Sander Style Soft fragrance line--not too shabby for a fashion newcomer.

After a couple of years as a model, Bela decided to try a new challenge, and took a break from the world of fashion to pursue a career as an actress. And though Poland may not have been super supportive of her modeling career, it was more than happy to offer her the opportunity to act. Bela's most notable film roles were in two Polish films; she played leading roles in both "Stranger" and "Karol: A Man Who Became Pope" (which, as you might have guessed, is about Karol Wojtyla, better known as Pope John Paul II).

Some might be tempted to write Bela off as some sort of model/actress stereotype--but trust us when we say that those two pursuits only scratch the surface of what makes this woman so fascinating. As it happens, acting wasn't the only thing she did during her hiatus from fashion: she also enrolled in grad school and got herself a master's in anthropology, writing her thesis on photography and Richard Avedon. As she recounted during an interview with Models.com:

My master's degree was in Cultural Anthropology. I started… the basis of my studies was American Literature but then you can expand your studies towards the end, so I moved into anthropology where you can pretty much write about anything you want and I decided to write a 100 page thesis on Photography and on Richard Avedon. That was in 2005. When I started, my professors were pushing me to write about photography to incorporate my experiences in the fashion industry and I was like, no, no, no ..this is so predictable. But eventually I did it because I had what you would call… a first hand experience.

And if learning that she's a model/actress with a master's and an impressive thesis under her belt isn't enough to impress you, consider the fact that this woman is also a trained pianist and a certified piano teacher (think she'd like to teach us how to, ahem, make some beautiful music with her?). We're pretty sure that if you look the word polymath up in the dictionary, you're just greeted with a full page picture of Malgosia Bela.

After racking up all those impressive qualifications, Bela returned to the world of fashion modeling in 2006--and she's stayed with that career ever since. Nudity enthusiasts that we are, we've been the most impressed with her appearances in both the 2009 and 2012 Pirelli calendars and the aforementioned Lui cover shoot; those who are more interested in the clothed part of fashion might be interested to know that she's modeled for such impressive outlets as Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Chloé, Jil Sander, Donna Karan, and Marc by Marc Jacobs.

But wait, you're probably wondering: with all this modeling and school and acting and whatnot, does this woman ever have time for, you know, fun? New York Magazine reports that while off set she enjoys writing and playing music--not surprising given her impressive musical training, we suppose. Maybe it's just a fantasy, but we picture her returning home after a long day of modeling/acting, pouring a nice glass of brandy, and unwinding with a nice session of piano playing (and maybe poring over an exhaustive ethnography or two). Which, frankly sounds like our perfect evening.

So let's raise a glass to the woman who proves that models are more than just pretty faces and bodies. Your gorgeous good looks and frequent nudity may been the thing that have caught our attention, but it's your brains and talents that have really got us crushed out, dear Malgosia.