Tell us, what kicked off your modelling career?
"It's so funny, I got scouted as a kid. So I was walking on the streets with my mum and then someone asked us if I could do a shoot for their brand. I think I was 5 or 6, I was super young."
Super young! How did things progress after that?
"So a few years later, when I was 13, I went to an agency and they signed me there and then. I started by doing a lot of commercial stuff which was super fun and chill but as I got older I realised I wanted to model for a living. I got told I wasn't tall enough and didn't have the right measurements to be a fashion model. But I didn't take that as an answer. So I worked on my own shoots and took my modelling book to agencies in Paris, London and New York. I really put myself out there and that worked. I think when you want something and you really go for it, you can get it."
What was your big break?
"Definitely when I worked with Juergen Teller. The famous photographer, you know? I was around 18 or 19 and did a campaign with him and it came out on billboards in New York. Afterwards I got a call from Sports Illustrated. Which resulted in 3 years of work. Good for building my image. And yeah, my following."
Can you compare modelling now to back then?
"Well, back in the day, social media wasn't really a thing. So it didn't matter if you had a following or not, it was all about your measurements. They had to be exactly right. Now it's a lot more inclusive and you can really utilise social media with getting jobs too."
And then G-Star asked you to curate their Y2K capsule collection. Where did you start?
"I went to the G-Star archive. Very inspiring. I picked my favorite original designs, all from the year 2000. And they've been recreated without any edits or additions. So we're really bringing Y2K into 2022."
