The New Regime: Eniko
Seasons change, and with them, the ‘new faces’ of fashion. But don’t tell that to
Eniko, the new Hungarian model with her sight set on longevity.
By Cayte Grieve
Few models ever become super, mostly because they don’t have what it takes to move beyond the shallows of seasonal hype. But Eniko Mihalik has been a supermodel for the past several years—according to her mom, at least. “My mother used to call me all the time,” says the 21-year-old Hungarian, “swearing I was in this magazine and that campaign. I would rush to find the magazine and realize she was talking about Daria Werbowy. My own mother thought I was Daria!”
Eniko has since dropped her last name—at least professionally—and stepped out from Daria’s shadow, lending her chiseled cheeks to the Versace, Chanel and Prada catwalks. Her look, at once earthly and ethereal, recently landed her an exclusive contract with photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. “My life has changed so much,” she says of this collaboration. “I feel like I can be anyone when I am working with them—it’s like acting.” It was this dramatic flair that secured her the top spot in Gucci’s fall campaign, an accomplishment she recounts with humility: “I assumed I was just going to be one of the girls in the background, but there I was, my head right under the big Gucci logo.” Her modesty, however, gives way to ambition. “I hope that this will take me into the supermodel realm,” she says. “I have a lot to learn, but I’m here, and I am doing whatever it takes.”
Photo: Pieter Henket