BY Sophie de Rosée | 09 September 2010
Anna de Rijk was first scouted when she was 16 by a photographer at a neighbour's Christmas party in her home town of Haarlem in Holland. Now 21, de Rijk is this season's fashion darling, currently fronting campaigns for Chanel make-up, Dior jewellery, Gianfranco Ferré and Sonia Rykiel. Past campaigns include Prada, Burberry, Topshop, Vera Wang and Uniqlo, with editorial appearances in US Harper's Bazaar, W, and French and Italian Vogue. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with two Swedish friends who are also models.
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I was working in a health-food shop for €2.50 per hour when I was asked by a photographer at a Christmas party if I'd ever thought about being a model. I had vaguely considered it but never seriously. I thought that doing a modelling job once every couple of months for €300 could make me some extra money - €300 was a lot of money for me then.
I had no idea that you could do modelling full-time. My big breakthrough moment was at London Fashion Week autumn/winter 2009. It was my first ever fashion week and I really felt brainwashed by the whole thing. I'd wake up at 7am, and go to castings, fittings and shows all day because no one knew me and I had to meet everyone. I'd get home really late, wash my hair, get into bed, then dream all night about fashion week. It was so tense that I wasn't sure I wanted to do it again. Second time around it wasn't such a whirlwind because people knew my face by then.
I loved modelling with the animals on this shoot. I was a little nervous before going into the compound with the lions but once I was inside I wasn't scared at all, even when they were roaring really loudly in my face. The tortoise was huge and must have been really old. I was most afraid of the monkeys because they are crazy and much stronger than you think, but thankfully they were in a cage. I'm now thinking of taking the summer off to work with animals in Asia.
I used to dress up as Pippi Longstocking every day from the age of seven to nine. I wore my hair exactly like hers.
I don't get recognised in the street that much, but a lot of people say I look really familiar. I once was recognised in Holland by someone who said to me, 'Hey, I retouched you.' I thought, 'Great, you've been zooming into my pores.'
My style is hard to define. I like to mix masculine and feminine clothes. For example, if I'm wearing a girly dress I would never wear high heels as well because that would be too girly. I'd probably wear it with some masculine loafers. I love my boyfriend jeans and usually wear them with a stripy T-shirt from Acne and sandals. For castings I have to wear heels because at 5ft 9in I'm not super-tall. I wear a lot of vintage dresses, jeans and shirts. My favourite vintage stores in New York are No6 in Little Italy and Narnia in the Lower East Side. I also love the vintage stores in the Marais in Paris.
I find going to the gym really boring. I do a lot of walking and yoga. Exercise has to be fun for me and I'm quite spontaneous. I was in Holland recently, staying by a lake, so I decided to swim across it. I also like dancing - especially African dance because it's so free.
VP is smart to use her. She makes clothes look special, shows off accessories so well and of course, looks gorgeous in the meantime. I'm kind of glad she's not overused, it adds a bit to her aura of expensiveness. 
Here are her updated DNA polaroids.
