SAMANTHA GRADOVILLE

As the music began and the first look rounded the corner, all eyes were glued to Samantha Gradoville as she opened the PRADA fw10/11 show in Milano. The American stunner literally did just that (stunned the spectators) as she concluded the runway show in the closing outfit of the collection as well. Samantha was soon seen in iconic fashion publications including W Magazine, Numerò, V Magazine, i-D, Another Magazine, Pop Magazine and various editions of the Vogues' including Paris, Germany, Russia, Italia, Mexico, Taiwan, Japan and Spain. Fashion brands began heavily pursuing Samantha for their advertising projects. CALVIN KLEIN was a first to headline the superstar in their CK Underwear advertisement photographed by Alasdair McLellan with consecutive collaborations including the CK One advertising photographed by Steven Meisel, CALVIN KLEIN Jeans photographed by Sebastian Kim, CALVIN KLEIN Ink photographed by Robbie Fimmano and CALVIN KLEIN Performance photographed by Mario Sorrenti. Luxury houses having featured Samantha include the likes of SPORTMAX, PHILOSOPHY, MAX MARA and GIORGIO ARMANI. For more than 5 years running, Samantha has been studying the art of Metalsmithing and Gemology. She is currently working on launching SAMVARA JEWELRY @samvarajewelry, Samantha's very own jewelry line creating one-of-a-kind, handcrafted pieces from her work studio in Manhattan. She is currently mastering her craft under the guidance of David Benlolo, a world-class master jeweler that has worked for some of the most prestigious jewelry houses, including Tiffany & Co. To add to this incredible talent she holds, Samantha is also trained in the art of Lapidary (cutting, grinding, and polishing stones) by Bob Hazeltine in Santa Fe, NM. Samantha has always been drawn to crystals and felt a particular attraction to Shungite - a 2 billion-year-old stone that has the ability to block EMF waves (transmitted by all phones, laptops, wifi routers, etc). So, with this, she created her Shungite Pendant as a way to protect the energetic body from those harmful waves. Samantha is also busy working on her venture in herbal medicine. She studied herbalism with Susun Weed at her Wise Woman School and has received education on essential oils and aromatherapy through The School for Aromatic Studies in NYC. She also completed a 6-month apprenticeship in New Mexico under Kymia Arts, studying herbal medicine and alchemy. With her prolific preparation as an herbalist, Samantha has created her own brand BLACK EARTH EXTRACTS @blackearthextracts, focusing on making healing plant medicines & herbal extracts through alchemical methods. Her aspiration is to eventually open up an apothecary to help others with plant medicine and share her knowledge of the plant realm. Samantha engages in the art of Fine Gardening, growing a variety of medicinal plants (while simultaneously creating new ones using the process of plant propagation) in her private garden which she uses in her various extracts. Most of Samantha's plant medicines are created by utilizing a dual extraction method with a soxhlet apparatus and many hours of diligent awareness in the process of transforming solid plant material into liquid medicine. A Soxhlet apparatus uses heat to vaporize the solvent (either water or alcohol) to rise up until it reaches the condenser, becomes liquid again, and drops down onto the herb - extracting it slowly and completely. This makes the finished product more potent and it also has a broader spectrum of medicinal properties than your typical tincture. She is proficient in different methods of distillation and uses them to create a variety of essential oils. She also makes her own cider by the process of fermentation and creates topical healing oils and creams. Designer, Creator, Supermodel...