Candice Swanepoel grew up on a dairy and beef farm in Mooi River, South Africa, rising regularly at dawn to help her father milk the cows. The hard-working atтιтude has stayed with her—she still wakes up at 5 a.m. most days, be it for a shoot or for a full-body workout that includes yoga, boxing, pilates and resistance training. She has often described her teen self as awkward-looking and didn’t envision a career in modelling until she was scouted, aged 15, at a flea market.
When Victoria’s Secret got in touch with Swanepoel’s agent in 2007, she had been thinking about quitting modelling, because of the loneliness of the trade. Luckily, she found herself at home among the Angels, becoming close friends with fellow South African Behati Prinsloo, as well as Lily Aldridge and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Swanepoel’s relationship with VS catapulted her onto the global stage. After becoming an official Angel in 2010, the model was featured in ad campaigns for Tom Ford and Versace, and walked for the likes of Oscar de la Renta, Tom Ford, Chanel and Fendi. She was chosen to wear the Fantasy Bra in 2013 and appeared on four Vogue covers the following year. As of 2017, Swanepoel is the Angel with the largest following on Instagram, with 11.4 million followers.
In 2016, Swanepoel announced that she and long-time boyfriend Hermann Nicoli, whom she met in Paris when she was 17, were expecting their first child, Anacã. The model is an avid supporter of Mothers2Mothers, a charity working towards reaching an “HIV-free generation” of children and mothers in Africa.
2017 marks her return on the VS runway.
What’s Candice Swanepoel’s workout regime?
To prepare, the South African model has been practicing a combination of yoga, pilates and resistance training. Her secret weapon? An energy-boosting breakfast smoothie, combining banana, berries, almond ʙuттer, protein powder, chia seeds and coconut water.