– Model of the Moment –

JOAN SMALLS

Is it Cara? Is it Kate? Candice or our very own Doutzen? No, Joan Smalls is the model of the moment. Better even, the Puerto Rican beauty is model of the year. The 25-year-old Joanji, as her friends call her, has already been on the list with most wanted models worldwide for more than 12 months. Vogue, Victoria’s Secret, V magazine, i-D, H&M, there isn’t a cover or campaign she hasn’t already done. The mega deal with Estée Lauder – the first ever Latin face for the American cosmetics brand — seems to have ensured her number 1 position for some time to come.

Joan grew up in the little village of Hatillo on Puerto Rico where she frequently entered local model competitions. She never won because, according to the Caribbean island, she was ‘too thin, too tall or too dark’. Once in New York she managed to get by as a catalogue model, but her big breakthrough was in 2010 when Riccardo Tisci booked her exclusively for the Givenchy haute couture show. Campaigns for Cavalli, Gucci, Chanel, Stella McCartney and Lacoste soon followed suit. Looking back at that moment, she says: “I really thought that this was going to be my moment. My opportunity to shine.” And shine she still does.

“I really thought that this was going to be my moment. My opportunity to SHINE.”

From Karl Lagerfeld to Steven Meisel to Carine Roitfeld, this exotic lady knew how to wind everyone around her fingers, as well as her 250.000 Instagram followers. And she’s really sympathetic to boot. When asked about her first serious expense, she answered: “I wanted to give back to my parents because they’ve sacrificed so much for me and my sisters. I bought a pick-up truck for my father. My mother’s wish was to rebuild the kitchen, but every time she saved up for it something would happen. So last year, I gave her the kitchen of her dreams.”