We all know that every model is about more than just looks. Candice Swanepoel may have Angel
wings, but she's also got brains. And a swimwear line. And kids. And hustle. And…butterflies?
"Nerves are healthy, you know. You need, like, a little adrenaline to really kill it."
Swanepoel grew up on a farm in South Africa — with very little fashion industry influence.
And she explained how sharing about her hometown has triggered
a bit of confusion in the past. She told Elle,
"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?"
At age 13, Swanepoel enrolled in an all-girls boarding school. She told the outlet,
"My parents were humble. They're farmers, but they worked really hard to send us to good schools."
Her experience prepared the future supermodel for her eventual career. She even credited the
boarding school dorms with helping her more easily acclimate to shared living spaces and traveling
with other models throughout the years. Though Swanepoel now enjoys the life of an
international supermodel and star, her first few years in the modeling industry nearly cut
her career short. She was just 15 when she was scouted at a South African flea market. And the
chance encounter has long since contributed to the model's Cinderella story. The star
distinctly remembers her initial awkwardness when she was just beginning, telling Vogue,
"When I first started modeling, I was younger and quite shy."
Her first major gig came in the form of an editorial shoot for Italian Vogue. And,
looking back on the experience, she admitted to Fashionista,
"I really didn't even know how to even move."
It also took the teen some time to adjust to working in the fashion world
in general. And she often felt the stress of an
unforgiving industry eating away at her mental health. She told Self in 2015,
"Every day, I was working with different people who were speaking different languages,
so I was never able to form any relationships. I just wanted to go home."
Thanks to the industry's notoriously narrow standard of beauty,
Swanepoel quickly became overwhelmed by the brutal environment in which she was
already working as a professional. She was even on the verge of calling
it quits completely by the time she was 17. But at just the right moment,
her agent got the call of a lifetime — from Victoria's Secret. As Swanepoel recalled to Self,
"My agent said, 'They want to see you. If you get the show,
will you move to New York?' I said, 'If I got Victoria's Secret, I'd do anything.'"
Having shed most of the stage-fright and body image issues that hurt her earlier in her career,
she was ready to work one of the most famous runways
in the world — in her undies. As she told Vogue,
"By the time I had the opportunity to wear lingerie and swimwear for Victoria's Secret,
I was confident and it just felt like the next step in my modeling career."
When asked about what Swanepoel credits as her key to success,
she said that her professionalism has taken her the farthest. As she told The Lowdown,
"It can be a tough environment to work in. And people wanna work with people who are easy."
And it appears her rural upbringing heavily contributed to her unstoppable work ethic.
She recalled waking up at 4 a.m. with her dad to get work done around the farm, telling Self,
"Growing up surrounded by so much life and death and realness
shaped my personality. Africa is not for wussies. It's in our culture to be hard workers."
According to the outlet, these days, the model's typical workday usually starts
at 5 a.m. and lasts until sunset. Then, she goes home to work out.
As a year-round swimsuit and lingerie model, the hustle clearly never stops. She told Vogue,
"I lead a really balanced lifestyle. It is important
to eat healthy but also allow yourself to indulge a bit."
Swanepoel met Brazilian model Hermann Nicoli, at 17. The two were both working in Paris at the
time and quickly got serious. After 10 years together, Nicoli finally popped the question
in 2015. Having spent much of their time together in Brazil, Swanepoel told W magazine in 2012,
"I've been going since I was 17, and the first time I went, I fell in love with it.
Just the energy, and I feel alive when I go down there."
"I've been loyal to the same person for over 11 years. I'm so, so in love with him."
Swanepoel joined some of her fellow Angels in motherhood when she gave birth to her son,
Anacã, in 2016. She returned to the runway just 8 months later, then welcomed her second son,
Ariel, in 2018. As for how she handles working and parenting, she told W,
"You make it work, and at a certain point you long for your own family,
something more than just work."
In 2019, the model revealed that she was newly single in an Instagram Stories Q&A. But little
else is known about her split with longtime partner and father of her kids, Hermann Nicoli.
"Everyone's asked, 'What does it feel like to wear $10 million?'
It does make me pose a little better." Swanepoel is an international supermodel
and supermom. But in 2018, she crowned herself with the title of entrepreneur,
too. The model launched her own swimwear line that sought to bring fashion and sustainability
all the way to the beach. Her brand, Tropic of C, features timeless designs that can
survive the trends — and not end up in the landfills. As she told Fashion Week Daily,
"I wanted the line to be something I could be proud of from all angles,
not just adding to the problem. I want to leave the world a better place, not worse."
As Swanepoel continues to lend her talents to the brand as creative director,
she says the secret to her success in life is living in the moment. She explained to the outlet,
"Life is all about learning and evolving,
so I'm looking forward to what lessons 2022 has in store for me."
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