Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). She began her modelling career after winning a modelling beauty contest in Prague in 1989, at the age of sixteen. She was a member of Thomas Zeumer’s Metropolitan Models.
After arriving in Paris, her popularity increased. Her first important appearance was the model for the first Wonderbra campaign. In 1994, advertising executive Trevor Beattie, working for TBWA/London, developed an ad for Sara Lee’s “Hello Boys” Wonderbra campaign. It featured a close-up image of Herzigová wearing a black Wonderbra. The ad used only two words: “Hello boys.” The campaign was considered ground-breaking and controversial, resulting in complaints that the photograph demeaned women.
The influential poster was featured in an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and it was voted in at number 10 in a “Poster of the Century” contest.
