Zoe De Boer Interview - The wonderful thing about modeling is the diversity and flexibility of work

Swanky Magazine Interviews the - Zoe De Boer.

MODEL SPOTLIGHT | VOL.2 | ISSUE.1

Zoe has taken the fashion world by storm, with her strikingly unique styling and editorial work. Having a detailed eye for all things beauty we caught up with her to ask a little more about her fabulous journey!

Q1. Hi Zoe, Lovely to speak with you can you introduce yourself to Swanky Magazine's readers?
I am a mum, a carer, a wife, and a model..… I am thankful every day that I can work in a job that I love so much. Fashion is in my blood, and I am both privileged and grateful to be able to say that I am a 48-year-old fashion model, who has been in the business, around my education and family, since I was 17 years old.

I refer to myself as a full spectrum model with experience in fashion, catwalk, photographic, commercial, beauty, hair, nails, and art modeling. Through modeling, I have built up a range of skills to diversify into other career areas. From modeling, I have evolved to designing a modeling course to support other potential models to start and make a success of modeling, casting models for shows, styling, and creating fashion editorials for submission to magazines. I have gained so much more knowledge about photography and makeup artistry which has been very helpful too. I can do my own makeup and hair for shoots which is really helpful, especially more recently when social distancing measures have been in place.

For: Seventh Vegan

Photographer Sammy Baxter @sammybaxterphotography www.sammybaxter.co.uk

MUA: Nikki Mullard @nikkimakeupandhair

Model/Styling: Zoe de Boer @z.deboer

Photographer: Aicha Marie Photographer & Stylist @aichamariephotography

MUA: Charlotte Annice Spruch

Q2. How did you get involved with modeling, and what do you love most about being a model?
From a teenager I always wanted to be a model - fashion specifically because I loved clothes so much: both wearing and creating looks. This love was nurtured further when I started reading fashion magazines for teenagers until I eventually started reading Vogue when I was around 15 years old. Reading these magazines allowed me to study the models, and encouraged me to start taking care of my skin and body through a good diet, exercise, and a skincare routine. Thankfully I kept getting taller too! I joined an agency called Elite Premiere, London, in their new faces division, Preview, aged 17. I gained some valuable experience doing test shoots and castings until I went to university in Bournemouth to study for a degree in public relations and media. Alongside college and university, I worked as a model for a high-profile artist who painted ballet dancers called Donald Hamilton Fraser, RA. I had always loved ballet and danced until I was 16 years old. The grace and elegance of ballet certainly helped my posture and made me more aware of movement balance and how to move gracefully.

In my late teens, I also worked supporting local designers, modeling their collections at trade exhibitions such as the NEC in Birmingham. I also performed in hair competitions in London for a hair salon that had a range of branches around the area where I lived.

Whilst at college, and then at university, I was consistently asked to assist with photography, media, fashion, and art projects for fellow students. This all served as useful experience and involved photographic, catwalk, and film-related tasks. I really enjoyed doing this and the exposure to these different types of modeling tasks enabled me to gain confidence in my abilities as a model.

After university, I settled down and moved to Bournemouth permanently. I then had my children. My eldest daughter Grace, now 21, was born with a spontaneous genetic disorder that left her with severe disabilities. That restricted my working capacity and my ability to travel, so I’ve had to work around her needs. I went on to have two more children, Kitty now 17, and Jude who is 11. I really thought that was it as far as modeling was concerned until I was approached by a local

model agent in a bar, whilst out with friends in Bournemouth one evening. I was 36 years old at the time. My career in modeling completely took off again and here I am more than 10 years later, still enjoying a range of fun working opportunities that have worked around my family. In fact, my children have joined me on several modeling jobs, and have been asked to perform modeling tasks in their own right for photographers and designers doing both, photographic and catwalk

work. Over the years, my reputation and confidence as a model grew - and it needed to because I was naturally very nervous at first, especially going back as an “older” model when we are told all too often that models are all done with by the time they are 25. But that is simply not true! The agency I was within my 30s tried to pitch me as a more mainstream commercial model, but I never felt at home in that role, so I started to pitch my fashion side more robustly. Fashion is in my blood, so that was easy for me to do. I really understand fashion and love working with conceptual designers in the area of high fashion. I am a natural clothes horse and my frame lends itself well to fashion modeling work. The crazier the fashion the better for me. Thankfully this paid off because I then went on to be successfully cast for the Arts University Bournemouth fashion department’s end-of-year catwalk show for their final year students. Since then I have walked in around seven shows for them and, for the past four years, they have also cast me, alongside a clutch of London models to walk at Graduate Fashion Week in London. My reputation and professional relationship with AUB grew, and they made me very much part of the team, especially in the fashion department. I enjoy a great range of modeling tasks from shooting their end-of-year fashion publication through to modeling for styling shoots, shows, casting models, modeling for short courses, and toiles (reviews of collections in the development stage).

I access work as a freelance model through my Instagram profile, which has snowballed my credibility and exposure as a model because I have been able to showcase the full range of work I have been lucky enough to enjoy. I receive casting calls through a database for models and creatives called Purple Port, and also enjoy new work through word of mouth and repeat work with creatives I have worked with before. I also work as an artist’s model for drawing classes. The wonderful thing about modeling is the diversity and flexibility of work, so you can work it around your own personal circumstances.

I love so much about modeling, no job is ever the same, and the diversity of work I am involved in creating is truly inspiring. For me, it is crucial to do a job I love, and modeling is certainly that - it’s the breath of life to me - the cherry on the cake so to speak. I realised that for me this would manifest through a creative role. I enjoy art and fashion passionately. I love colour and interesting shapes. Conceptual, high fashion I find particularly appealing and feel my look lends itself well to fashion modeling. This genre often tells a story or has its roots in an idea, concept, era, or makes a point perhaps politically or emotionally. It’s fantastic that we can campaign, inform and express ourselves through fashion. For me, when I model, my body becomes like a metaphoric gallery for the most amazing pieces of clothing art. It’s my job to really show off the clothes and have often referred to myself as “the clothes horse.”

Accessories: Tom Ford

Photographer: Rob Wilkinson

MUA: Sarah Heap

Q3. What fuels your imagination and provides you with inspiration.
Working with fashion and creative students at the Arts University Bournemouth really broadens my creative perspective. Their talent and hard work truly inspires me. I absolutely love exaggerated, surreal, and architectural shapes in fashion design. Textures are important too. I like to see them expressed creatively in fashion stories, often turning tradition on its head, provoking a reaction, and enjoy enriching their impact through my modeling and creative direction skills. Nature and colour also inspire me greatly. I have a real instinct for trends and forecasting. I enjoy tapping into everything from the seasons to social culture and history to inspire my modeling and styling work. I do love a mood board and get very enthusiastic about new jobs - it’s like opening a present at Christmas to see what exciting things we are going to create next. I am passionate about bringing as much as I can to the table, and love brainstorming ideas with creatives to ensure the final images are as accurately represented as possible to the client’s needs. I love the diversity and range of work that modeling offers me so I am always progressing my creative realm. I am determined not to allow my age to define or dictate the work I do. I work hard on myself physically and mentally to keep giving my absolute best to every client I work with. I truly believe in myself as a model and am unfazed by any job that I might pursue, or be asked to do. I am happy to stand next to any model half my age on the catwalk for example without compromise to my sense of ability to do the job.

Q4. Let us into a secret, what is a beauty trick you do before a photoshoot?
I have so many beauty secrets that I have harvested over the years from my modeling career. The older I get, the longer it takes to prep myself before a shoot. But like anything worth investing in, in life, hard work always pays! My best beauty tip is consistency and planning. There are no quick fixes. It’s a holistic approach. Keep on top of your skin, hair, and nails (and everything in between from brows to feet) then when it comes to prepping for a job the process is seamless. I also really appreciate natural beauty as I get older. I like to see the real person. For me, natural, cruelty-free products work best….and scrubbing! Lots of skin scrubbing. I work out regularly, use weights, and also am a black belt in karate. I also enjoy the all-around benefits of yoga. It really helps my stamina and physical ability to maintain interesting poses.

Photographer: Hilxia @h_i_l_x_i_a

Retouched: Thehutintheforest.com

Designer: Diana Miculit @dianamiculit

Q5. What projects are you working on next and what are your goals for the future?
I am really looking forward to more work opening up now we are moving out of lockdown more fully. I have worked with a number of exciting brands recently from hairbrushes to vegan bags and commercial work for Bournemouth Tourism. I’m really keen to keep expanding my portfolio of work on the modeling front. However, I’m also working on creating fashion editorial content for high-end fashion magazines with a photographer friend of mine. We’re currently finalising images for a submission which is very exciting. We have another project already in the pipeline backed up behind it. I love starting with a blank piece of paper, then building a fashion story from the bottom up. It’s great to prick people’s interest, turn their heads and build in an element of surprise. It’s my fuel for life! I’m also looking forward to seeing some recent modeling work I’ve done for clients published. That’s always so exciting. It’s been much busier lately with life opening up, so, watch this space…..

Follow Zoe’s journey: https://www.instagram.com/z.deboer/