­AT NUMBER 1: MAARTJE VERHOEF

Maartje Verhoef, one of the top models at Micha Models has been modelling for around a year. She blogged for Amayzine.com about her adventures during her shoots and so feels a little bit ours. Both her parents and her agent put achieving her high school diploma at top priority. Only then could she fully focus on the world of modelling. How she managed is a riddle to me. Some days she landed at Schiphol on a Monday morning after a four-day shoot, went straight to school and still achieved high marks.

The world lay at her feet, and she had a shiny new high school diploma in her hands. This is the first fashion week that Maartje was able to accept all offers. When I spoke to her in New York, she told me in a humble but intense way that Malaika Firth had walked 60 shows during her first fashion week. She wanted to do the same. Or at least 50. If she could. Yesterday I spoked to Micha, her agent, over drinks at Le Marly. The count stood at 55 shows till now. And it’s not over yet. Saint Laurent, Miu Miu, Hermès, Chanel, Valentino, they’re all still on the fashion agenda, and at this pace she’ll easily reach 70 shows. Besides that, Micha told us with pride, Maartje is top of the international list for the model that has walked the most shows.

Maartje can take her place in line with Karen Mulder, Lara Stone, Doutzen Kroes, Bette Franke and Saskia de Brauw. We’ll be seeing a whole lot more of her. Mark my words.