Growing up in Moldova on her family’s farm — selling cheese to the local village and herding cows — Elena Matei never dreamed that she would become a world-class model. In fact, she didn’t even know that modeling existed as a career.
“I am from a simple family,” Matei, 26, told The Post. “I grew up in a small village and we didn’t have fancy things in our head. My mom is very shy. She would never do anything like this.”
By “this,” she means flying around the globe, modeling for brands like Beach Bunny, Guess and Victoria’s Secret, gracing the covers of international editions of Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle — as well as launching a solo singing career with the support of fashion designer Donna Karan.
Initially, singing was a hobby enjoyed by all the women in Matei’s family. Her grandmother and mother sang folk songs — tunes that had been passed down through the generations — while they worked, back when Moldova was part of the Soviet Union.
Matei, meanwhile, dreamed of being a professional singer, like Madonna. “I had big hopes,” she said.
She would sing to the cows all day on the farm and pretend the pasture was her stage. “My mom would say, ‘Oh my God, stop it. Our neighbors must think that your father is doing something bad to me, the way you scream,'” Matei recalled. “I wasn’t actually screaming; I was trying to release my voice.”
The role playing worked. As a teenager Matei won a singing contest where the prize was a spot at a top performing arts school in Romania. Shortly after relocating there, she was “discovered” by a model scout on the streets of Bucharest and embarked on a fashion career that took her to Paris, London and Milan.
“I became a model by mistake,” Matei said. “I never expected this to happen.”
She hardly looks like it was a mistake. Standing five-foot-nine soulful blue eyes, dirty blonde hair and a graceful but commanding presence, Matei appears made to model.
Another happy “accident” occurred in 2016, on her first day in New York City. Matei, then 20, had moved to the Big Apple to pursue modeling more seriously and was scouted by an agent from Elite Models right on Fifth Avenue.
“I was walking down Fifth Avenue with my friend and suddenly somebody stopped me and said, ‘Are you a model?’ I said, ‘Yes, I am a model.’ And Elite signed me up that day,” she said. “My life changed immediately. On Fifth Avenue, dreams can happen! I know it sounds crazy, but this is the real story of my life.”
Matei spent the next few years building her portfolio. She became the muse of legendary photographer Russell James, and, in 2018, appeared in his limited-edition photography book, “Angels,” alongside supermodels Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima and Kendall Jenner. Campaigns for Beach Bunny and Raw Spirit followed, and the leggy Eastern European also walked the runway for Tommy Hilfiger.
Fortuitously — or accidentally, Matei might say — working with James also fueled her music career. The photographer introduced Elena to fashion designer Donna Karan one day while they were shooting at the Stephan Weiss Studio in the West Village, which Karan owns and is named for her late husband.
“Russell casually mentioned that Donna Karan would be stopping by,” Matei recalled. “When she arrived, he told me to sing to Donna. I felt like fainting, but in the end, I sang. While I was singing, I looked up and realized Donna was on the phone calling the super talented icon of music Barbra Streisand! Slowly, through these connections, I began to enter the world of music.”
Another connection, TV anchor Giselle Fernandez, introduced Matei to Neil Portnow, the former head of the Grammys and president of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). The retired Portnow is now helping the model with her debut album, which is currently being recorded in Los Angeles. (In 2020, Portnow was accused by his ousted successor, Deborah Dugan, of having raped a member of the Academy. Portnow called these allegations “ludicrous, and untrue.”)
Matei is also working with a voice coach in LA to tamp down her Moldovan accent.
Matei hopes to be a pop singer in the vein of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Ariana Grande.
“I’ve always heard about the American dream, but suddenly I am living it,” she said of her luck. “I can’t believe that this is really happening to me.”
TikTok has helped, too. With nearly 52,000 followers on the social media platform, and video views of over 300,000, it’s been a powerful tool to be seen and heard. “TikTok is a very good platform because many talented people can go viral with their songs,” she siad. “They can become stars overnight if people love their music.”
While she’s mainly been releasing covers on social media — including Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” — Mattei also writes her own music, like the dreamy love song, “Magic World.”
“It’s about love and magic,” she said. “It’s about the type of a girl who is very innocent and pure and the type of love which every girl would love to have in their life.”
Regarding her love life, Mattei is reticent, only saying that she is currently single and solely focused on music.
While she’s recording her debut album, she’s still modeling as well as painting. Matei also loves to travel, although she hasn’t been back to her native Moldova in years. Her family has moved from the country, which is only one hour away from the border — and war — in Ukraine. Recent posts on her social media include constant refrains to “end war,” including a passionate cover of “Zombie” by the Cranberries dedicated to ending war.
However, the United States is where her heart and home are now.
“I love everything about America,” Matei said.. “I love that people are free. I love the diversity. There is no one type of thinking, like you’ve got to do this, and you’ve got to do that. Everything is the way you feel, and the way you want to be. I love that.”
Photos: John Chapple for NY Post; Stylist: Philippe Uter/The Only Agency; Hair: Doug Mengert/The Only Agency; Makeup: Dominique Della/The Only Agency; Location: Melrose Rooftop Theatre & E.P. & L.P., West Hollywood.