Swanepoel’s knowledge of the areas in which Bottletop operates has, perhaps surprisingly, been key. Having grown up in South Africa and Brazil (she has been with her Brazilian boyfriend, fellow model Hermann Nicoli, for seven years, has a house there and is fluent in Portugese) she’s all too aware of the problems that parts of both countries face.
As such, she finds solace in the work she does with Bottletop and in Brazil, her spiritual home – it reminds her of the farm she grew up on in South Africa and it’s clear to ᴀssume it’s where she pictures herself settling down. It’s this that seems to set her apart from her contemporaries.
“What inspires me in my work and gives me a different look in the eye is learning and experiencing these things. I feel like a lot of my fans see something different in my eyes – I grew up differently, I value different things to a lot of other models,” she says.
As such, she doesn’t consciously aspire to make herself into a ‘brand’ like some other equally-as-successful models have. “It’s funny, I have two sides – I’m quite ambitious, I like to work but then I have another side of me that really doesn’t need that much,” she says.
For her, right now at least, it’s about “feeding her soul, being a bit more quiet and doing smaller projects that I’m inspired by rather than building a brand.”
“I would just love to enjoy my life and have a simple house on the beach and teach my [future] children what I value in life and what I’ve learnt from growing up in Africa with those values – going out into the world, seeing what I don’t like, what I think is wrong and teaching them that,” she says, crediting her boyfriend and their private life together with keeping her very much grounded.
What – you may wonder – would one of the world’s most beautiful women rather be doing on the international day of love? “I’m not much of a Valentine’s Day girl,” she says matter of factly. “It’s a nice excuse to be romantic but it’s a fine line for me because I don’t like anything false and forced, so I’m a difficult one!”
And with that, Swanepoel’s image as a fluffy pink Victoria’s Secret airhead is well and truly abolished.
Candice Swanepoel at the Bottletop launch in Harrods