Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova is now one of the world's most recognizable faces, having been on the cover of Vogue magazine more than 70 times and starring in lucrative advertising campaigns for brands including Calvin Klein, Versace and L'Oreal.

But growing up in the 1980s in Nizhny Novgorod, a city 400km east of Moscow, Vodianova never believed she would visit the capital. Travel to and from her home town was restricted under Soviet rule, and the family was so poor she often wondered where her next meal would come from.

"Even to Moscow you know, it seemed so far away, another planet. And of course now … I celebrate it, but for such a long time it was, just a beauty that was unimaginable and inaccessible to me," she told CNBC's "Trailblazers," while showing host Tania Bryer around the city.