Candice Swanepoel Is Living a 'Mean Girls' Quote
Like the smiley bombshells Kate Upton and Gigi Hadid, Candice Swanepoel is a model version of America's sweetheart. She's blonde. She's cheerful. She's laid-back, as if the bikinis she models are always under her clothes, ready for a quick trip to the beach. But Swanepoel also speaks three languages, has 11 million Instagram followers, and seems to shoot major fashion ads at the speed of a fighter plane-despite being a new mom with an 8-month-old son.
Her latest campaign is for Vive La Juicy Glacé, a fragrance from the velour empire with notes of mandarin, jasmine, and pear sorbet. Inspired by frozen flowers (and probably, a little bit, Queen Elsa), the scent made its debut at the New York Edition Hotel this week. That's where we met the 28-year-old to discuss pregnancy pressure, Mean Girls moments, and really bad self-tanner.
Juicy has been around since we were kids. When you grew up in South Africa, did you have one of their velour hoodies?
I don't think we got actual Juicy Couture clothes in South Africa, but I definitely remember seeing the ads. It was definitely a thing for us as teenagers. And when I first came to New York, I remember seeing the billboards for Juicy and thinking they were so fun and so vibrant. They were with Sasha [Pivovarova]. I remember literally asking [my agent], "Hey, can I do the Juicy ads?"
And now here we are.
It's good to manifest things you want and goals. If you do, they kind of end up happening.
Is that how you figure out next steps in your career?
When it comes to a modeling career, it's hard because you want to be clear with your goals, but you can't be "realistic" because modeling isn't realistic. The sky's the limit with this kind of job. So when I go to [my agent], I'm not afraid to shoot really high. I'll say, "Why not this photographer? Why not this campaign? Let's get it!"
This particular campaign, with the pink dress and the pink fuzzy cap, it's very 'Clueless,' isn't it?
So Clueless! I didn't even think of that. We got that movie in South Africa, but it came right when all those other '90s teen movies got to us, like She's All That. So when I was a teenager, I really thought that's what being a teenager in America was like. And even know, when I'm in LA, I think, "Oh my gosh, my life just became a movie." I feel like New York is the same in the movies as in real life, too. You can be going home in a cab and get inspired by the most random thing, even the traffic lights. When I'm coming home from the airport, I get a little sentimental. I see the skyline and I think, "That's my city! I've come so far!" It's seriously like a movie.
What about South Africa? Is that like a movie, too?
Sometimes I tell people I'm South African and they get really confused. You know that Mean Girls quote? It happens to me a lot in real life. "So if you're from Africa, why are you white?!"
"My god, Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white!"
Yeah, that Mean Girls scene, it's a real thing. Also, people think I have lions in my backyard. I mean, I grew up on a farm. I didn't have lions in the garden but I did go on safari for holiday, and we had animals on our farm. I'm actually going back home tomorrow, because it's my dad's birthday, and everyone wants to meet the baby. It's his first time, going back to his little African roots!
People seem intent on models and actresses getting their bodies "back" after pregnancy. Did you feel pressure to start working immediately after your son was born?
That pressure, I think, is something that exists on the internet but not in real life. Because once you have a kid, what random people say on the internet is even less relevant to your life. You've got to think about other things. But on a personal level, once you have a baby, you want to be the best for yourself and for your child. I have to tell you, I thought once I was a mom, I wouldn't want to work anymore, ever again. But I find work really fulfilling. And to do more jobs than before, and to feel like I'm an even better model than before, that makes me proud and I want it to make my son proud one day.
I heard you went to boarding school for high school?
Yeah, from when I was 13! South Africa has a really traditional culture with really amazing schools. My parents were very-how do I say this word in English? I can think of it in Portuguese right now, but not English-humble! That's it. My parents were humble. They're farmers, but they worked really hard to send us to good schools. My brother went first, because he's older. He went to this really old, really beautiful all-boys school. They look like old castles. And then two years later, I went to the sister school. It was all-girls.
Did you have a uniform?
Oh yeah. My uniform was huge on me. I was 13 and it was like an outfit, a pair of twigs coming out, and a pair of giant knees. The collar was huge on me-we had a shirt and a tie. I loved the experience of it, but it's definitely unique.
Do you think boarding school prepared you for living in model apartments, and traveling with the other VS Angels?
Yeah! I've never thought about it that way, but it definitely prepared me for that. We lived in "houses," which were like dorms for about 70 girls each. And you learn how to get up and out of bed so fast. I would do this thing where I would keep my uniform intact-like, the tie was still tied, the collar was already buttoned, and I would slip the whole thing on over my head so I could get ready in like ten seconds.
Did you learn any fast beauty hacks from the girl's dorm?
Well, kind of the opposite. I remember when I was in high school, self-tanning was like a huge craze. My friends and I, we got ahold of some self-tanner, and we snuck out of our rooms at like midnight, and we all got together and decided that we were really going to go for it. We put this self-tanner on each other in one of the school bathrooms. But I don't know where this tanner came from, because it was really old and really bad. So the next morning, we all go to chapel-that's what you do in the mornings at our school, before class-and we were the brightest, most unnatural shade of orange. The whole school turned around and stared at us. And there was nothing we could do to get it off! We just had to wait for it to fade, and we were so embarrassed.
You Might Also Like
