Natalia Vodianova's grandma is her style icon

The Russian supermodel says her 82-year-old grandmother has helped her make it in the fashion industry by giving her fashion inspiration and beauty tips with her healthy outlook on life.

Natalia told The Telegraph newspaper: "She is my fashion icon. She always dressed well, had beautiful things - shoes, gloves, scarves - and kept everything in the house pristine. She would get up at 6am, run in the park, swim in the frozen lake, and prepare breakfast by the time I woke up."

The stunning beauty - who was the third highest paid model in the world in 2012 – claims her grandma thankfully stopped her from over-plucking the thick eyebrows that are her trademark.

She reminisced that she was "very severe and distant" as a teenager so resorted to over-grooming her eyebrows to get boys to notice her.

She explained: "But when my grandmother saw me plucking she said: 'Don't. You will regret it. One day you will wake up with no eyebrows and think how stupid you were. Your eyebrows are the most beautiful thing about you'.' "

The model also revealed how she hates the stress of Fashion Week since having children Lucas Alexander, 10, Viktor, 5 and daughter Neva, 4, and tries to avoid taking part in catwalk shows, unless as a favour for her beloved designer Stella McCartney.

She sighed: "For one month, twice a year, fashion week and the people in it were my family. [Now] I have three children, I have school runs and doing fashion week, well, it is my idea of a nightmare."