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Supermodel Doutzen Kroes: 'A lot of times I felt insecure'

Dutch supermodel Doutzen Kroes on finding her own  way in fashion, leaving  Victoria’s Secret and why she never calls her daughter pretty

Before I get to speak to Doutzen Kroes, I’m first sat down and briefed by her four-year-old daughter Myllena. She shows me a fistful of pink stone rings (toys) and her miniature leopard-print Dolce & Gabbanacoat (real), which is probably a good representation of the balance her parents are trying to strike when bringing her up unspoilt in their insanely glamorous world.

Kroes, the supermodel mother, is married to Sunnery James, a globetrotting DJ who – wearing hi-tops and a cap, but carrying a packed dad bag – brings his little girl to take a look at today’s set. He scolds her gently in Dutch for walking across a Hermès coat, assuming it was a rug. She asks, in English, if she’s allowed to touch the Chanel bag.

Myllena and her brother Phyllon (eight, and at school) have won the gene-pool lottery, and with Kroes, 34, and James, 40, they complete the perfect family portraits that gain endless likes on Instagram from the former’s six million followers.

‘It’s really hard to tell who your own kids look like,’ Kroes muses, gazing at her daughter. ‘I see him, my husband, in her, but I don’t see myself at all. Unless, maybe, I’m looking at my own baby pictures or one from the runway when I was younger. She already loves fashion, which is crazy to me as I never had any of that growing up. I was a tomboy, still am. I spend most of my time in jeans and sweaters when I’m not working.’

As soon as our shoot (which requires Holland’s top model to get on her bike in Amsterdam, wearing Proenza Schouler) breaks for lunch, Kroes immediately changes back into her own clothes. Her ‘basics’, it’s worth noting, are a navy Celine coat and an oatmeal cashmere knit by The Row, but her body language alters completely with the outfit switch, from hard pout to soft and open.

Dubbed the ‘Helen of Troy of advertising’, Kroes’ distinct but versatile look has gained her campaigns with brands from L’Oréal Paris to Prada since she signed with Amsterdam’s Paparazzi Model Management in 2003. She made her name internationally as a Victoria’s Secret Angel from 2008 to 2014, and last year she was the 10th highest-paid model in the world, behind the likes of Gisele and Karlie Kloss by the slimmest margin.

Kroes’ own upbringing in the agricultural region of Eastermar, north Holland, couldn’t have been less glamorous. She aspired to be a professional speed skater as a teen and barely wore make-up. But at 18 years old she realised that, frankly, she was really, really good-looking. ‘There was a boy at school who told me, “You 
are really beautiful,”’ she explains. ‘I think it had [an impact] because my parents never told me that. I never saw my mum doing her nail polish or blow-drying her hair. She was very Dutch 
in that way.

‘I didn’t know anything [about the industry], but I bought my first fashion magazine and I saw a picture of a girl saying what agency she was with,’ she says. ‘I thought maybe I would love to have my hair and make-up done one day and look like that. Be somebody else, wear nice clothes. Why not? I took pictures and sent them to the agency, and that was it.’

In 2005, the photographer Steven Meisel shot her for Vogue Italia. ‘That was a turning point for me. Everyone in the industry was suddenly like, “Oh, she’s OK then.” I remember being very naive and thinking, “But nothing has changed, I haven’t changed, so why is everyone now interested in me?” It was because of him.’

She credits Meisel’s endorsement with helping her to get what seemed like the contract of a lifetime. ‘I didn’t even know what Victoria’s Secret was when I first came to New York from Holland,’ she admits. ‘My agent took me to the store, and there was a picture of Gisele on the wall and he said, “One day you’ll be here.”

‘Everyone knows what Victoria’s Secret is today, but back then for me it was a very different time and just another job. It was prestigious, but now girls are crying if they get cast for this show. I was never hysterical about it.’

Victoria's Secret reached exceptional heights as the social-media era of modelling took off, with its shows becoming bigger each year. It made household names of its Angels, some of whom pledged never to retire because they appreciated the status it gave them so much. Only in December, after 19 years of service, did Adriana Lima finally hang up her wings. Kroes was there in its prime, but says she knew after six years as an Angel it was the right time for her to leave.

‘At one point in my life that show was my favourite time of the year,’ she says. ‘You get so much attention, your ego is just “wow”, you’ve worked so hard to look a certain way and you get so much credit for it. But I had two children, we moved back to Amsterdam from New York and I had an opportunity to work with a lingerie brand here, where I would get to be the only brand ambassador. Things had changed a lot at Victoria’s Secret, too. [Victoria’s Secret] were taking on new models each year and it was not about [promoting] six iconic girls any more.’

She also found the post-pregnancy pressure to ‘get [my] body back’ intense. After Myllena was born in July 2014, she had four months to get into ‘lingerie-worthy’ shape for the show on 2 December.

‘For me, it was my job. I don’t know what else 
I would have done,’ she says. ‘It’s also genetics, through many years of training my body has a certain muscle memory, and I lost a lot of weight from breastfeeding, so it was [achievable]. I think it takes a lot more courage and discipline for a mum who’s not a model to get back in shape. I was motivated to work twice as hard because I felt lucky to go back to modelling. But looking back, I stopped [Victoria’s Secret] at the perfect moment.’

Kroes’ exercise regime, she tells me, consists of lots of cycling around her home city’s canals, plus weekly dance, yoga and Pilates classes. ‘Pilates is the one that makes me the most lean,’ she says. ‘It gives me good posture for work, but doesn’t make me too muscular or bulky.’

Her diet is informed by her sister Rens Kroes, a famous cookbook author and nutritionist with more than 350,000 Instagram followers who champions superfood-led, veggie-based recipes on her account, @renskroes.

When she started out, though, Kroes’ figure was considered a better fit for lingerie modelling than catwalk shows, as she wasn’t ‘sample size’ – she’s 5ft 8in and a UK size 10.

‘Before diversity, in high fashion it was like you could not be sexy or have any curves,’ she says. ‘The Victoria’s Secret show at that time was a place where I could show my body, and be proud of it and people would appreciate it. [To get more high-fashion work] I tried so many things and at some point I just said, “This is my body, I cannot work out any more than I already do, or eat any differently.” This is who I am. A lot of times I felt insecure, but I was also like, “If this is not for me, then I’ll go back to Holland and be happy there.”

‘It’s so much better now, I’m lucky that it’s changing because my career can be longer, if I want it to be. Age, size, race – everything is more diverse, and that’s great because more people can identify with fashion and find it inspirational. Now, people want to work with you because you have something to say. In the past models didn’t speak, but now you need this voice to get the job.’

Since becoming a mother, Kroes admits she’s become more aware of the image projected by her profession. She’s keen to teach her daughter, and others, about the truth behind the glossy portraits.

‘There’s a lot of pressure on women to always look a certain way because of what I do, I know that,’ she says. ‘People need to know that I’m a very different person on the school run to what you see in the picture. You work with perfect light and people who are so talented and put you in the right outfits, but that’s not what I look like at home. My children see the difference and that’s so important.

'Having my hair done doesn’t add value to who I am. Boys cannot expect that women look like this all the time. I think a lot about making sure to not tell my daughter all these things about being pretty. I never had that when I was her age. I want her to have her own talents and aspirations.’

Kroes and James are currently building a home in the countryside away from Amsterdam for their young family. She’s being pickier about the modelling jobs she takes, and is keen to do more acting after a small part in 2017’s Wonder Woman. And she’s set on using her huge following to promote good causes. One that’s already thriving under Kroes’ watch is Knot On My Planet, the charity for which she acts as a global ambassador, which has raised $7.5 million to date for the Elephant Crisis Fund.

‘It’s so fulfilling and finally my job has given me a purpose,’ she says. ‘What I’d like to do next is a series, sitting down with colleagues to talk about topics that bother me about the fashion industry and the world. As a model, sure, I might inspire some people, but I know I might make some girls feel bad, too, and that needs to be addressed.

'I don’t understand why men and women have to fight each other, or why people with different skin colours are seen as different. These things bother me so much. But now I have this platform I want to use it. Maybe there’s a reason I’m doing this.’

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Good interview + pics 

Liking this new cover a lot ..especially the styling & location

Her soft expression is lovely and it works just fine but that same expression face (eyes/mouth) I've seen so many times ..wish she was more versatile as model with stronger/more confident looking eyes without looking angry/forced

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I really like that interview, especially how she is willing to say that VS is not what it used to be and that they're hiring so many models and not focusing on the just a few iconic models. Good for her for being so honest. I mean, I know she's gone from VS but still....

I really like her personality.

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That interview was such a nice read! Love that she was so open and honest but without being petty or negative. It sucks that she's working less for sure, but at the same time I love that she decided to move back to Amsterdan and do her own thing.

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