Solaiye Ivy Sonenclar (born May 13, 2000) is a Russian-Australian model and YouTube personality.

Early life

Solaiye Sonenclar was born May 13, 2000 in Moscow, Russia. Her father Max Sonenclar is a former Calvin Klein model, he is American-Australian, and her mother Alyonka Bezrukova is a former Russian model and blogger. Sonenclar is the third and middle child of the family. She has two older brothers named Easton and Quin and a younger brother named Wilkie. She also has a younger sister named Marlow. Her great-great grandad was American WW1 veteran named Easton. Neither her or her siblings were given a Russian name which is uncommon for children born in Russia.

By the age of 4, Sonenclar could read and write perfectly, and by the age of 5 she could speak 8 languages fluently (Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Arabic). Her mother stated that Solaiye was born with an extraordinary talent of understanding multiple languages without even learning them. Sonenclar stated that she had never been taught any languages other than Russian and that she woke up one day with fluent understanding of 8 different languages.

When she was 4, Sonenclar moved to Byron Bay, Australia where she lived until she moved to Manhatten when she was 15.

She is the youngest model in the world to have an estimated net worth of $17 million from April 2017 when she was only 16.

Career

Modeling

Sonenclar began modelling at the age of 4, walking on the runway for Russian designer, Alek Kuzenkov. She had her first photoshoot at 7 years old with Dani Brubaker.

She has appeared on Vogue Russia 17 times, the first time was when she was 7.

At age 13, she appeared on the cover of the magazine Jalouse (fr).

In 2015, she signed with IMG Models. She walked the runway for Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce & Gabbana.

In 2017, she became a brand ambassador for L'Oreal Paris. She starred alongside Zendaya, Lucky Blue Smith and Presley Gerber in the Dolce & Gabbana's millennial-themed spring/summer 2017 campaign.

Personal life

Sonenclar lives in her own house in Manhatten and is still attending high school. Sonenclar stated that she doesn't plan on going to university as she would like to make Modeling her full-time job.