NEW YORK — Nimue Smit admits she is a somewhat of a nerd, her chief weakness being a soft spot for science fiction. Doubtless this admission will jeopardize any career aspirations the Dutch beauty has after she long ago catapulted her away into high fashion by way of a Prada campaign by Steven Meisel. There is something endearing about the manner in which Nimue owns up to this predilection of hers, as if it would be inconceivable that a recently graduated premedical university student from Holland like herself could possibly derive satisfaction from a genre currently in the clutches of a virulent Star Wars revival. What Nimue’s admission of course betrays is a passion and attention to detail that has served her well throughout a long career.
That passion is more than evident in the Vogue Nederland cover story from this summer that she shot with Dutch photographer Marc de Groot. Nimue began shooting with de Groot at the age of 16 and all these years later was thrilled to travel to the Dutch island of Aruba off the coast of Venezuela for a weeklong shoot. Originally the story was meant to be 16 pages, but ended up being a full 28. Nimue believes this expansion was down to the sheer fun of the shoot, which helped create some truly extraordinary portraits. As if the shoot did not provide enough enjoyment, Nimue and crew dove into the sea and swam with flamingoes once they wrapped.
Apart from modeling, Nimue is passionate about cooking healthy, which she enjoys doing at home for friends and family. Making traditionally prepared dishes more healthy, for example, by substituting vegetables for refined starches is something Nimue especially loves. This passion is also partly behind her involvement with Healthy Food Company, which is committed to making wholesome snack foods available to students and others across the Netherlands through the development, distribution, and stocking of its own proprietary vending machines. Was Nimue’s background in the hard sciences previously mentioned?! Beauty and intelligence wedded to a high work ethic are all part of what has made Nimue the successful model she is today. If Nimue is what a nerd looks like, then there might be hope yet.
Credits include: Title, “Next Questions — Nimue Smit”; Interview and video, Damien Neva; Model, Nimue Smit.
