November 2, 2024Nov 2

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How Karolina Spakowski became currently the most sought-after German catwalk model (and VOGUE cover star).

Karolina Spakowski in the VOGUE cover story about her love of traveling and why she has no problem being alone.

As these lines are being typed, shortly before this issue goes to press, Karolina Spakowski is currently running the Isabel Marant show for spring/summer 2025 in Paris. In the previous days she was seen on the catwalks of Alexander McQueen, Hermès, Schiaparelli, Courrèges, Bottega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo and Gucci - to name just a selection. Karolina Spakowski, who grew up in Braunschweig, is currently the most sought-after German (runway) model.

Time to introduce the 22-year-old in more detail, who was photographed for our cover series together with her colleagues Greta Hofer from Austria and Victoria Fawole from Nigeria in a nature reserve in the north of the English county of Kent.

Karolina Spakowski's path into the modeling world

At 15, Spakowski applied on his own to the Hamburg modeling agency Kult. “Because my friends said I should definitely try it out. They said that either I should apply there myself – or they would send the application for me,” she says with a laugh. "Then I thought: I'd rather decide for myself." The agency is interested and invites Spakowski - and she goes to the performance in Hamburg without telling her parents anything about it; until the promise comes. The parents aren't initially impressed, so the booker in charge, Graeme White, decides to drive by the Spakowskis in Braunschweig with his wife and baby and explain to them in person what exactly Karolina would do as a model and to assure them that they will take good care of her. That works. She is accepted into the agency, but first prioritizes school and gets her high school diploma. She then moves to Hamburg for a few months, then to Berlin. "When I was in Berlin, modeling really started, and then I was kind of everywhere."

Breakthrough at Valentino

White still remembers Karolina's "breakthrough" clearly: Shortly before the end of Paris Fashion Week in October 2022, after a few rejections from other houses, Valentino accepted - Karolina's first catwalk appearance and the "show that changed everything," as he says. She is already part of the inventory at the following Paris Couture Week in January 2023: not only does she open the week as the first model at the Schiaparelli show, she also closes it in a feather-light white wedding dress at Valentino. Since then, she has walked for almost every international luxury fashion house, shot campaigns for, among others, Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Max Mara, Swarovski and Versace and has appeared in numerous fashion series and international magazine covers.

Did these big names ever seem scary to you? "At my very first Fashion Week I was extremely nervous, simply because I didn't know where it was all going. I didn't know anyone, I was a bit confused, I still am," she admits. "Every show is special, but the more you do it, the more it's a 'normal' job. You know each other now, talk to your friends and can enjoy it more and more." As it becomes clear again and again in the conversation, calmness and pragmatism seem to be among Karolina's core competencies. After all, what she describes so calmly – the backstage area of fashion shows – can certainly be perceived as a relatively nerve-wracking working environment. "It depends on which show it is. If it's the last show in Paris, then it's a little more stressful. But overall everyone is really nice, the collaboration is very respectful." And competition? There seems to be no trace of it in Karolina Spakowski's fabulous modeling world: "That was a big surprise for me because TV formats etc. always suggest that there is rivalry or jealousy between the models. And I actually haven't experienced that at all. There is No competitive thinking, there's not much you can do about it anyway. Either you get booked or you don't." Pragmatism, there it is again.

Spontaneity as a challenge – and joy

When asked what she sees as the biggest challenge in her job, Karolina says spontaneity. "That you always have to be ready to fly somewhere at a moment's notice, or to go somewhere, or that plans will be canceled, that it's more difficult to plan private things because you simply don't have a routine." But that's exactly what she enjoys the most: "It's such a love-hate relationship, because on the one hand you can't plan anything, but on the other hand it's never boring. You can always travel around, always experience something if you feel like it."

It's such a love-hate relationship because on the one hand you can't plan anything, but on the other hand it's never boring. You can always travel around, always experience something if you feel like it.

Does it bother you to be mostly alone on your professional trips – she mentions Beijing as a highlight? "Of course it would be nice to always have my friends and family around me. But I think that because I travel alone a lot, I can see the cities in a completely different way and without filters. If you go with friends: "When you're out and about inside, you absorb a lot of their impressions. I generally don't have a problem with being alone," says Spakowski. She is always in contact with her parents via Facetime anyway. What also helps her to get rid of the thoughts she has while traveling is writing. "One thing that grounds me really quickly is people when they travel. I then take out my headphones, observe the surroundings, pick up a few conversations and write down what happens."

Until she graduated from school, Spakoswki didn't get around much. “Of course I only had a connection to my hometown in Kazakhstan, where my family comes from. But other than Braunschweig, I hadn’t seen much,” she says. After working in Hamburg and Berlin, she lived in Frankfurt am Main until recently - for practical reasons, simply because the city has the most international airport in Germany. As we speak, however, she is already about to make her next move: this time to Paris. "To be honest, it doesn't matter where I live. I'm never in one place for long anyway," she says.

To be honest, it doesn't matter a bit where I live. I'm never in one place for long anyway.

Karolina Spakowski

The doorbell rings, the parcel service. "Well, one negative thing about never being at home is that you just can't manage to have packages picked up. I've had these packages sitting here for a month, I've tried four times - now it finally worked! " So that's what's going on for her now too.

( Translation from German to English by me)

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