Twenty years into her modeling career, Irina Shayk has done it all, from eyebrows to hair bleaching.
Still, the Russian beauty’s new V Magazine shoot might be her wildest fashion moment yet.
In the cover photo, taken by her close friend and legendary photographer Steven Klein, Shayk, who turned 40 earlier this month, looks killer in an Alaïa perforated vinyl top and matching fluted skirt, and C. Ford leather gloves laced up to her armpits.
She stares at the camera, her face hidden behind a Dalva white truffle sheet mask.
“There are no lines anymore. There are no more boxes of ‘model’ or ‘that’s all.’ If something brings me joy, if I feel love, if I have a creative partner by my side who inspires me, I want to explore that,” Shayk told the magazine about her recent milestone birthday.
“For me,[this story]represents a kind of wild femininity,” she added. “Creating this woman with Stephen opened so many visual windows. It felt like we were stepping into another world.”
The world includes Sheik riding a bike in a studded leather choker necklace, bra, thong, and corset by Zana Bain, swinging in a rubber-padded muscle top and rubber-striped pencil skirt by Griffin, and posing with one of Klein’s signature black horses wearing only an apron and a Fleur du Mal G-string.
“The funny thing is, I can’t even ride a bike, but horses still scare me,” she joked in an interview. “My daughter rides[horses]and she always tries to talk me out of it. But I always dreamed of standing next to Stephen’s horse and taking that iconic image.”
Skincare masks aren’t the only thing Shayk is sporting. In one shot, Irina posed in a long leather coat and drop-crotch pants by Maison Margiela, paired with gloves by Paula Rowan and a black leather mask by Wendy Drolma.
There’s also Vex’s molded latex corsets, Mowalola’s “Landing Strip” pants, and Jean Paul Gaultier’s leather capes.
And Shayk rides a bike with her butt exposed in a CDLP jockstrap and an oversized leather Francesco Murano blouson, and takes a bath in a Ferragamo dress.
If this is any indication of where Irina will be in 2026, this will definitely be her boldest decade yet.
