Candice Swanepoel

Background

Candice Susan Swanepoel was born on October 20, 1988, in a small South African village called Mooi River. Her mother Eileen, a former aerobics instructor, and her father Willem are both of Dutch ancestry. Her older brother Steven, who is now a professional golfer, lived on a dairy and beef farm. They were raised in a natural, loving, and familial environment. She loved ballet and had aspirations of moving to New York to pursue a career as a dancer.

Fate had different plans. She was 15 years old when she was discovered by a model scout while perusing a Durban flea market while attending the all-girl boarding school St. Anne’s College. Within a year, she had secured modeling assignments all around Europe. International Vogue publications in Australia, Brazil, Greece, Spain, and Japan featured Swanepoel on their covers. She first met Hermann Nicoli, a Brazilian model, in Paris in 2005. She moved to New York City to become a full-time model after bouncing between Milan, London, Paris, and South Africa. Swanepoel caught the eye of Victoria’s Secret and walked her first runway with them in 2007.

She has collaborated with renowned fashion photographers, including Bruce Weber and Mario Testino on editorial and high fashion projects for her portfolio. Steven Meisel, another key player in the fashion world, took the shot for her cover of Italian “Vogue.” After 10 years of dating, she and Nicoli got engaged in 2015 in between modeling for magazine covers and catwalks. They gave birth to their first child, a son named Anacã, on October 5, 2016, after waiting a year. Ariel, their second son, was born on June 19, 2018. Late in 2018, the couple divorced. Besides being a model and a mother of two, Swanepoel has entered the business sector by launching her swimwear line.