She had never dreamed of being a part of the glamorous world because the fashion industry in Europe and America was so far away for this cute, sweet South African farm girl. But the world’s fashion capitals had been waiting for someone whose looks were so stunning that they could use them to promote their brands and products. Candice Swanepoel became one of the most successful and sexiest models in the fashion industry. She became the most sought-after superstar. Soon after she was found, each new job and contract took her career to a new level, making her one of the best-paid models in the world. She has been on the covers of some of the most popular fashion magazines and has been featured in ads for a lot of fashion brands. She has been hired by a lot of talent agencies in Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Denmark, Australia, England, and the United States. She has also worked with Victoria’s Secret, which is the most prestigious store for lingerie. She has walked the runway for them and shot commercials for them. This blonde model with blue eyes and a body to die for has been voted one of the most beautiful people by a number of different organizations.
Early years and childhood
On October 20, 1988, in the small South African town of Mooi River, in the province of KwaZulu Natal, Candice Susan Swanepoel entered the world. She was born into a family of Dutch colonial settlers who spoke Afrikaans. She was going to school at an all-girls boarding school called St. Anne’s College when a modeling scout named Kevin Ellise saw her at a flea market in Durban and changed her life. She was only fifteen.
Within a year, she was walking the runway for well-known designers and was busy getting more modeling jobs all over Europe. She was making about €5,000 a day. She was also in the Italian fashion magazine, Vogue.
Career
At the Ready to Wear – Spring/Summer 2006 fashion show, she walked the runway for Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce & Gabbana. Her charm and good looks made her stand out in the fashion world, and top designers and magazines were eager to sign her. She worked for different modeling agencies for two years in Milan, London, Paris, and South Africa. After that, she moved to New York to do modeling full-time. Victoria’s Secret signed her in 2007 and had her walk the runway for them. Since then, she has been in their commercials and modeled for swimsuit campaigns more than once. In 2010, she was named a Victoria’s Secret Angel for the Angel line of lingerie. She was one of the models in the “SWIM” catalog in 2010, along with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Erin Heatherton, Lindsay Ellington, and Behati Prinsloo, among others. She opened Victoria’s Secret’s first store at West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada, in August 2010. She has been on the covers of some well-known international glamour magazines, like Italian Vogue, Argentine Harper’s Bazaar, Chinese GQ, and South African ELLE. She has posed for magazines in Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian, German, Mexican, British, Australian, Romanian, and Turkish.
She has been in commercials for Ralph Lauren, Juicy Couture, Guess, Diesel, Swarovski, Nike, Miu Miu, and True Religion, among others. Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan, Chanel, Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg, and Christian Dior are just some of the designers who have hired her to walk in their fashion shows.
Works of note
When Victoria’s Secret hired this tall beauty with “drop dead” looks in 2007, she became known all over the world because of their modeling jobs and lingerie commercials. In 2013, she walked the runway at a Victoria’s Secret fashion show where the most expensive “fantasy bra,” designed by Mouawad and called the “Royal Fantasy Bra,” was shown. It cost $10 million and was covered with 4,200 precious gems, including a 52-carat pear ruby.
Awards and Achievements
She is the first model from South Africa to work for Victoria’s Secret, which makes lingerie. In 2011, she was #20 on Ask Men’s list of the “Top 99 Most Desirable Women.” In 2012, she was #10 and in 2013, she was #11. In 2011, FHM magazine put her at number 62 on its list of the “100 Sexiest Women in the World.” Forbes put her at #10 on their list of the “In 2012, she was named one of the “World’s Top-Earning Models,” with a fortune of $3 million. In 2013, she moved up to #9, with an estimated fortune of $3.3 million. She was the only Victoria’s Secret Angel to have her own segment during the 2012 fashion show, where her biography was shown.
In 2013, she was chosen to be on the cover of Victoria’s Secret’s SWIM Catalogue. Maxim magazine made a list of the “World’s Hot 100 Beautiful Women” in 2014. In that regard, she ranked very high.
Personal Life
Since she was 17, she has been dating Hermann Nicoli, a Brazilian supermodel she met at a fashion show in Paris in 2006.
Trivia
Even though she was tall and thin, she never thought she was pretty or dreamed of becoming a supermodel. Instead, she wanted to be a ballerina. She is known for being fluent in several languages. Her longtime boyfriend, Hermann Nicoli, taught her English, Afrikaans, and Portuguese, which she speaks very well. She thinks of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Behati Prinsloo, the other Victoria’s Secret models she works with, as her best friends.
