Candice Swanepoel might not be a household name (for starters, even we struggle to pronounce her surname) but all that is about to change.
Since she was scouted at a flea market aged 15, Swanepoel has been conscientiously trucking away at her modelling ᴀssignments, and fortuitously gained a Victoria’s Secret contract shortly after moving to New York from her native South Africa. Cue endless pH๏τo opportunities for the American lingerie giant’s catalogues, press junkets – not forgetting the annual catwalk extravaganza – and a debut position at number 10 on Forbes’ Top-Earning Models list with $3million in earnings between 2010-11 quickly ensued.
But her washboard stomach, sea-blue eyes and ʙικιɴι-babe looks are starting to capture the imagination of the luxury fashion world, too. 23-year-old Candice clocked appearances in the spring/ summer 2012 catwalk shows of Chanel, Stella McCartney, Fendi and Giambattista Valli not long after bagging a role in the autumn 2011 advertising campaigns for Versace eyewear and Tom Ford.
And she’s just proved how much of a style chameleon she really is with her edgiest campaign to date. Prabal Gurung, an emerging New York Fashion Week designer who has dressed stars such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Mila Kunis, Rooney Mara and Amanda Seyfried, has picked Candice as the solo star of his new spring campaign. Pictured elegantly contorted and with brunette hair, Miss Swanepoel is practically unrecognisable, but there’s no mistaking those arresting blue eyes.
And it doesn’t end there, she’s endearingly modest, too. Her blog reads: “”Most days I still wake up feeling like the 15-year-old girl from a South African farm town, simply overwhelmed with graтιтude for the journey I am on.”
Expect to see a lot more of Candice, so let’s get practising the word ‘Swanepoel’.