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Bianca Balti
Birthdate:     March 19, 1984 (age 24)
Birth location:     Lodi, Lombardy, Italy
Measurements:     80-58-89
Height:     175 cm; 5'9"
Shoe size:     8 (US), 39 (EU)
Eye colour:     Blue
Hair colour:     Brown
Ethnicity:     Azeri-Italian

Bianca Balti (born March 19, 1984) is an Italian model born in Lodi, in the Lombardy region of north Italy to Italian father and Azerbaijani mother.

At the beginning of her career, she was rejected by numerous agencies, such as Elite Model Management, for being "too average and common" looking. Despite this, she was discovered by Bruno Pauletta in a supermarket, where she was working to finance her studies. She was promptly booked for the cover of L'Officiel, shot by Alexi Lubomirski. Her first notable advertisement campaign came for Dolce & Gabbana. More over, she appears on the cover of many fashion magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W, Jalouse, Cosmopolitan, Velvet, and Marie Claire. Campaigns for Roberto Cavalli, Donna Karan, Christian Dior, D&G, Valentino, Armani Jeans, Missoni, Rolex, Guess?, Paco Rabanne, Anna Molinari, Guerlain, Revlon, La Perla, Mango, Antonio Berardi, and Thierry Mugler soon followed.

She also appeared in the 2005 Victoria's Secret fashion show and in their catalogs.

In high demand for the runway, since the spring/summer 2005 fashion shows, she has appeared in every season's shows for designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Gianfranco Ferré, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Zac Posen, Hermès, John Galliano, Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Valentino, Missoni, Chanel, Christian Dior, Versace, Oscar de la Renta, Narciso Rodriguez, Ralph Lauren, and Carolina Herrera, among other prominent designers.

Balti was cast in Abel Ferrara's "Go Go Tales" (2008) as one of the lead erotic dancers.

After the movie and her pregnancy, she returned to the catwalk, became the new face of the Cesare Paciotti international campaign, and replaced Angelina Jolie as one of the faces of the fall St. John campaign, with models Hilary Rhoda and Caroline Winberg

Personal life

Balti is married to an Italian photographer, with whom she has a daughter, Matilde. She and model Eva Riccobono are friends. She now lives in New York City.