Quick Facts
Biography
Aleksandra Melnichenko (born in April 1977) is a Serbian former singer and model, and the wife of Russian industrialist and philanthropist Andrey Melnichenko.
Early life
Born Sandra Nikolić in Belgrade, Serbia to a Serbian father and a Croatian mother, Sandra was educated at the Eleventh Belgrade Gymnasium, prior to enrolling in the Faculty of International Management in Belgrade. Her father was an architect and her mother was an artist.
Career
At the age of 15, Aleksandra was encouraged to become a fashion model. She travelled with her parents to Milan, Paris and London where she modelled for a number of fashion houses.
Aged 17 she was a founding member of Models, a Serbian 1990s pop group.Over the following five years, Models released several albums.
In 1998, Aleksandra returned to modeling work and by 1999 was signed by model agencies that included Riccardo Gay and Traffic. She spent the next four years working out of Milan and Barcelona on a number of advertising campaigns in the print media and on television.
Personal life
Aleksandra met Andrey Melnichenko in the South of France in 2003. They married in September 2005 on the Cote D’Azur. Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera were reported to perform at the event. Jennifer Lopez reportedly performed at her 30th birthday party.
Art Collection
Aleksandra and her husband Andrey Melnichenko own two works from Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" series and a number of pieces of 18th century furniture.
The "A" Fleet
Aleksandra and Andrey Melnichenko own two superyachts designed by Philip Starck: Sailing Yacht A and Motor Yacht A which reportedly cost $500 million and $350 million to build respectively, and are considered to be "one of the most advanced superyachts on the water" with "environmentally-friendly innovations."